Spirit Detective Archives: End of Three Worlds
by CoreyKartana
Summary: The third installment of the Spirit Detective Archives. Corey finds himself in the future, where the world is run by the evil force known as Darkine. A prophecy must be fulfilled to rid this evil from the world, and that fate is left on Corey's shoulders!
1. A World in Ruin

_**Chapter 1**_

_A World in Ruin_

_Darkness…all around me is darkness. What's going on? Where am I? Why am I so…cold? Derek? Jade? Yusuke? Kurama? Liz? Anyone! What the hell is this?? Someone help me! Get me out of here! Help!! God help me!_

******

Corey Kartana opened his eyes slowly, feeling the cold ground beneath him. He slowly picked himself up, first into a kneeling position, and then standing full up. His panic from before seemed to slowly subside.

"I'm…alive?" He examined himself for any injuries, but all he saw were a few scrapes he still had from his battle with Yusuke Urameshi. He was still wearing his clothing from before: a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and tennis shoes, and a pair of leather gloves with no fingers. He rubbed his eyes carefully.

"That's…weird. Wait a minute…" He looked down at the ground, which was covered in dirt, not an arena floor like where he thought he had passed out, "What's…?" He stopped talking and looked around himself, and his eyes widened.

The area around him was not that of the Demon World Arena. It was a barren heath. A deserted wasteland, which showed no sign of life at all. The dirt ground, which was more like dried up clay, was cracked beneath him. The sky was crimson red, and any clouds were black, but showed no sign of rain in them.

"Am I still in Demon World? What happened to me?" he paused and thought about what had happened, and then it hit him. The confrontation with the man in black, the strange energy from him, and the orb that surrounded him.

_That's when I passed out before…did he transport me to some weird area in Demon World? Dammit…_ He looked up into the red sky and screamed,

"Where the hell am I?!!"

Corey just walked. It's all he could do in this strange place. He didn't know to where, he just walked. The landscaping never changed dramatically. Every so often, he'd spot a dying tree, or a few pieces of shrubbery. Unfortunately, he saw no sign of food, water, or civilization.

_Was this his plan? To leave me out here to starve or dehydrate? I've been at this for hours, and still no sign of-_ His thought was cut off as he sensed a trace amount of demonic energy behind him. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed it before. It might have been a deadly mistake, if the energy source wasn't so weak.

_Only C-Class? That's lame…maybe they can give me directions…_He stopped walking and turned around. Three large beasts that had the look of a cat to them towered over Corey. Each was at least fifteen feet tall, and had razor sharp claws and teeth. Corey merely scuffed,

"What? The welcoming committee?"

The first laughed. "Well, well, well. Look at this one! He's a human! Haven't seen one of them in awhile." He looked at his companions and they all laughed. Corey grit his teeth lightly and clenched his fists,

_No humans in awhile? That has to mean I'm still in Demon World…_ He took a step towards them. "Okay…now that you've found a human, what're you planning on doing?"

"Isn't that obvious, boy?" Asked the second, "We're going to eat your flesh! I haven't tasted human flesh in so long!" He actually started drooling.

"Well…that's just about disgusting…" Corey commented. It was only now that he realized that his trusty sword, Tetsaru, was not with him. Not that it mattered against weaklings like these, but who knew what kind of other monsters he'd find here.

"Let's fillet him!" Yelled the third as they all ran towards Corey, who only shrugged, and then he unleashed his spiritual energy. It only started with a spark, but soon blasted around the entire area, stopping the cat monsters in their tracks. They quickly gained a look of panic on their faces, which made Corey grin.

"Who's filleting who, now?" He asked, jumping towards the closest of the three. He jumped right up to his face, and the creature was in such shock all it could do was take the mighty kick to the forehead. Corey landed a few seconds before the creature did; lying on it's back dead. The other two backed off, then turned tail and ran.

"Hey! I was just getting started!" Corey called out, laughing and rubbing his shoulder. He looked at the fallen beast and sighed gently, "Damn…I shouldn't have killed him. Now how the hell else am I going to get info on this place? Oh well…" He shrugged and turned away from the beast and continued his walk towards nowhere.

******

"Huh? What's that?" he asked aloud, looking forward. It had been another few hours of non-interruption. Corey had found a small river, which he happily drank out of, and soon began following it, hoping to find some kind of civilization. His idea paid off, because in front of him was some kind of village. He had seen the smoke coming from it, and after closer examination he found that it was a small colony. It had a gate around it, made of wood. There were a few trees around this part, so that did make sense, and the water from the river would help for survival.

_But why would demons colonize here? Why not go to the Stone Castle or any of the other major demon cities? _He shrugged it off. He couldn't complain too much. Maybe if he explained what happened, they'd give him some food and tell him where he was. Or, if he had too, he'd just bust some faces in to get his answers. He walked forward and stood before the front gate.

"Heeeey! Is anybody in there?? Hello??" He waited for a moment, and then to his great surprise, it was a human that came to the gate. He could tell he was human due to the small amount of spiritual energy in him.

_What the hell?_ Corey thought.

"Ah! A human! Hold on, let me get the gate!" Called the guard from his post and vanished. A few seconds later the large wooden gate opened, and Corey entered the colony.

The village was rather un-modern, but it looked flourished enough. The small river actually ran through the center of it, and near one of the walls of the barriers was a turning wheel. The huts were all made out of stick and straw, as if it was back in the 17th Century.

_Now I'm really confused…_ Corey thought to himself. At that moment, a man walked up to him, looking in his late thirties. His clothes seemed modern, though, unlike the rest of this place. He wore a bulletproof vest over what looked like a normal t-shirt. He held out his hand in greeting, which Corey slowly shook.

"Hello, young man. My name is Lieutenant Logan Fox. What's yours?" He asked kindly.

"Corey Kartana…nice to meet you, Logan." Corey said hesitantly, "Logan? Why are you and all these people in Demon World?" Now it was Logan's turn to look surprised.

"Demon World? I haven't heard any of the worlds being called a certain name for a few years. Corey, this place would be technically Human World, not Demon World." Logan stated. Corey's eyes went wide and his body lightly shook.

_What?? There's no…way. Did that guy do this? Why are there demons in the Human World of that size and shape?_ He was referring back to his previous fight. _And how the hell did all this happen so quickly? How long was I out??_ Corey snapped out of it and looked at Logan.

"Logan…what…what year is this?" he asked.

Logan blinked. "It's 2075, Corey. Have…you lost your memory?"

Corey stopped listening to Logan. His eyes were wider then ever as he stared at the village in disbelief.

_2075? It's been… 15 years? That's… impossible. How can that have happened? Did that guy send me through time? But…but why would he do that? It doesn't make sense! _His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of screaming.

"What?" Corey asked, looking about to find the cause of the noise. Logan looked up to another guard in the barracks.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

"Sir! Demons are attacking the village!" yelled the soldier.

"Dammit!" Swore Logan as he pulled out what looked to be a supped up Walther, "Battles stations!" From one of the larger huts in the village swarmed out around 15 men, all carrying an assault rifle. Corey looked a little confused, but then looked towards Logan.

"You're planning on fighting?" Corey asked, with a hint of a smile.

"Of course! We're part of the resistance group towards Darkine. General Maison assigned us here." Logan said and ran towards his men, and then the 16 of them ran out of the village ready for battle, leaving Corey standing alone as woman and children all took cover in their homes.

_General…Maison? Derek? Are you alive? And who's Darkine? _He shook his head. "No time for that now. I gotta go help those guys out. I feel a fairly strong demon energy coming, and I don't think that they can take it on by themselves."

"Attack!!" Shouted Logan as he pointed towards the oncoming demons forces. Gunfire was heard through out the area. There were a total of four demons. It didn't seem like a lot, but when they were C-Class and one A-Class, the humans didn't stand much of a chance. Their gunfire did nothing to the A-Class Demon, but it was holding off the C's decently. Corey ran up to the Lieutenant and looked at him.

"I'm going to help!" he stated. Logan glanced over at him.

"Corey, we don't have any spare ammunition for you."

Corey smirked. "I don't need it. Cease fire."

"What? Are you crazy?? If we do that, they'll attack!" Logan snapped, looking over at Corey.

"Trust me." And for whatever reason, Logan did trust this new comer. He nodded towards him, and looked at his men.

"Cease fire!" He shouted, and they did so. Corey grinned,

"My turn!" And he ran right into the demon hoard, unarmed.

His first attack was made on the closest of the four, a snake like C-Class apparition. It hissed and snapped at Corey, but the young man merely dodged the bite by sliding to the right, and then delivered a powerful kick right under the creatures jaw. It's head cracked back and it slithered into a fetal position, dead.

The other three roared at Corey and the other two C-Class demons, a bear and bat like monsters, both attack Corey from two different angles. He went for the bear first. Just as the bear was about to swoop it's claws down on him, he ducked down and then hurled himself right into its stomach, his fist extended and making contact. The bear keeled over in pain. The bat demon stopped, and it looked like it was about to retreat, but Corey laughed,

"It's not that simple!" Corey yelled, and as the demon tried to fly off, Corey jumped up and grabbed it by its wings. It wrestled around with him in the air, but Corey managed to get on top of it, and punching it right in the back of the head. The demon did a nosedive right into the ground, leaving Corey face to face with the A-Class. It was a tiger like monster, but it looked nearly human.

"So…you seem to be the leader of this little group." Corey said, folding his arms over his chest.

"And you are quite the warrior. You should join us, instead of the humans." He said in a growl like voice. Corey chuckled.

"If you hadn't noticed, I am human, but tell me this. Who is your boss??" He demanded, pointing at the creature.

"You're kidding. It's Lord Darkine, of course, supreme ruler of all the worlds." The tiger demon said, and began to laugh. Corey shook lightly,

_What the hell has happened since I've been gone? So that guy…the one who transported me here…was he Darkine?_ The demon was still laughing, but stopped abruptly as he felt the spiritual energy of Corey surging out of him.

"You better shut up…I'm going to kill you after all." He had kept his finger extended, and it began to gather spiritual energy into the tip. It shined magnificently as he shaped his hand into the shape of a gun. The demon felt the power and knew that he couldn't withstand that kind of attack and began to run away.

"To late…Spirit Gun." And Corey pulled the trigger in his mind, sending the spirit energy blasting from his finger and hitting the demon as he ran. It only took a second for him to drop dead. Corey turned to face Logan and the other men, who all seemed in awe.

"What?" Corey asked, blinking.

"You…have spiritual energy, like our elder." Logan stammered, "But you can use it to attack!"

"Yea…so?"

"Corey…will you meet with our elder? I believe he can help you with your…problem." Now this got Corey's attention. He nodded slowly and walked over to Logan, who ordered his men to go back to their posts. Corey followed a few steps behind the man.

_Village Elder? Who could this dude be? And does he really possess Spiritual Power?_

******

The walk through the village was quick being it was so small. Corey glanced around and watches as the people stared at him, probably out of disbelief on what they had seen or heard.

"Word travels fast…" Corey mumbled as he walked behind Logan.

Logan chuckled. " It's not everyday that we get a powerful warrior who is so strong with spiritual energy around here."

"If you say so." They finally made their way into the center of the village, where a large tent like hut was placed. Logan nodded to Corey,

"Our elder already knows your coming, I had someone run ahead and tell him. Go on in." Corey nodded, and pushed open the carpet like door to the inside. The first thing Corey noticed was the smell of tobacco when he walked in. There was a fire going, and an older man with a long beard sitting by it. He was draped in older robes that had seen better days, but were probably once very nice looking.

"So…you the elder here?" Corey asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the fire. The older man nodded,

"Yes…I am Arthur. Nice to meet you, Corey Kartana."

"What? Did the guy who came and told you about me tell you my name, too? Or are you just creepy?" Corey mused, smirking a bit. Arthur made no reaction to if he was insulted or amused.

"I know who you are by your spiritual energy. You are the boy who defeated Shura, son of Yomi, sixteen years ago."

Corey blinked. "Well…you're definitely well informed…but tell me. What happened these fifteen years? I was, well…" Corey didn't know how to explain it without sounding crazy.

"You were transported fifteen years into the future, correct? By Darkine." Arthur said as casually as if he was telling him a history lesson.

"Y-yea…" Corey stumbled out, not sure how he knew this, "So…what happened? What's this rebel group deal? Is that General Maison guy really the same Derek Maison that I knew from fifteen years ago? And what about Yusuke and the others? There's no way that they'd just let Darkine rule the Human World!" To stop Corey from rambling on, the older man held up a hand.

"First off, Corey Kartana, it's not just the Human World. Darkine has control of all three worlds."

Corey's jaw nearly dropped.

"There's no…way…" he said in disbelief, "H-how?"

"Get comfortable, Corey Kartana…it is a long tale."


	2. Fifteen Years of Torment

_**Chapter 2**_

_Fifteen Years of Torment_

It had been three year since Corey Kartana was teleported into the future. Life, although most were deeply saddened, went on. Yusuke remained in control of the Demonic Realm as their king. His mind often wandered, worried about the stranger from the arena, and what really happened to Corey. He asked Hiei to search the entire demonic plains, but even with the help of his Jagan Eye, Hiei could not find the boy.

Derek Maison, who had remained in the Demon World after telling Corey's mother the terrible news, continued to look for Corey. The odd thing about the whole scenario? Koenma, the prince of the Spirit World, claimed that Corey's soul had not gone to the Spiritual Realm, giving them all a small amount of hope that possibly Corey was alive.

Unfortunately, they had no choice but to give up on their search for him. The demons had exhausted all leads to the whereabouts of both Corey and the hooded figure. During the search, Derek and Jade both moved to Demon World permanently. Derek had dropped his position as Spirit Detective, leaving it for Liz to do, unable to remain in the Human World.

Liz understood, and took on the position full time. Derek and Jade lived around fifty miles from the Stone Castle, and they lived peacefully. It seemed like life was finally getting back to normal, with the exception of one person missing from their lives.

And then, the attack was made.

Both Hiei and Dia were gone from the Mobile Fortress, leaving Mukuro alone with the guards…but no one could have anticipated what happened next.

While on the roof of the fortress, Mukuro suddenly sensed a strong energy coming towards her and the base. She knew that both Hiei and Dia were miles away, leaving her alone to defend the base. Unfortunately for her, she still wasn't as strong as she used to be, being barely an S-Class apparition herself.

_What? This is the same energy as that day Corey disappeared… Oh my God… _She braced herself as a figure, draped in black, swooped onto the roof from the ground. Mukuro quickly smelled the blood of her warriors and grit her teeth.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, her fists up. The hooded figure laughed darkly.

"Why, I've come here to take your life, dear wife of Hiei. Are you prepared?" He asked, the strange energy basking off of him. Mukuro couldn't help but feel afraid. She shook her head to snap herself out of it.

"You will not defeat me so easily, stranger." And she held out her hand and cut down in the air. At once, the air seemed to split into two. Mukuro's power, a power she hadn't used in over fifty years. The power to split dimensions in half. The hooded figure merely moved out of the way, not touched by the woman's attack. Getting frustrated, Mukuro quickly began cutting the dimensional bounds, tearing away at the fortress. Each cut, though, seemed to get less affective, and the hooded man came closer and closer.

_My powers have weakened so much…_ She thought to herself as she continued to desperately try and hit the man, until he was right in front of her. Her eyes widened in fear.

"Goodbye, Mukuro." He said, acid seeming to drop from his voice, and he brought his fist back and aimed for her chest…

"Damn it!" Hiei cried out as he ran towards the base. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! How could I be so careless!? Mukuro!" He had felt the energy from the day of the end of the tournament, and knew whom it belonged too.

_You got Corey, but you won't take Mukuro!!_ He soon found himself in the center of a blood bath. His soldiers, whom he had entrusted to help guard both Mukuro and the base, were dead around him, and above him…

"Mukuro!!" He shouted, jumping up to the top of the base and landing.

His eyes widened in horror.

There, in a bloody mess, lay his wife. Blood oozed from under her body, leaking off of the base. He ran to her, oblivious to the man behind him, who seemed to just fade off into nothingness.

"Mukuro!! Mukuro, answer me! Come on, Mukuro!!" Hiei cried, holding her in his arms, ignoring the blood from her and the tears from him. Tears were something Hiei never shed. He had never cried until this day. The tears stung his throat and burned his eyes. Mukuro opened her eyes, and smile up at her husband.

"Hiei…" She said softly, her words barely audible.

"Mukuro! It'll be okay, I'll get you to a medic." Hiei said, although deep down he knew that was impossible. Everyone in the compound was dead. How it happened, was unknown to Hiei.

"Hiei… I'm sorry… please… look after… everything… I love… you…" she said, coughing up blood. She gave him one last smile, and then her eyes rolled back in her head. Hiei's own eyes widened.

"No! No, Mukuro! Don't leave me! Mukuro!!"

Dia Jaganshi could already smell the blood from the slaughter at the Mobile Fortress. It was obvious he was to late, but he sensed his father's energy… but not his mother's. He jumped up onto the top of the fortress, and gasped at what he saw. Hiei, his father, caressed his mother's bloody corpse tightly to his chest. Hiei looked over at his son.

"Dia…I need you to do something for me…" He slowly rose up and went over to his son, his robes covered in blood. He gently placed his hand on his shoulder,

"Go tell Yusuke and Derek what happened. They will need to know about this new threat."

"What? Father, what are you talking about? What new threat? Who did this to mother??" Dia demanded, looking back to his mother's body.

"The same man who vanished Corey three years ago. I don't know his name, but I'm going after him." The three-eyed demon started to walk off, but Dia stood in front of him.

"Wait a minute! Why should I go get Urameshi and Maison? Why don't we both go and get him and avenge moth-" he stopped and started into Hiei's eyes. The look of sorrow had been replaced with rage. The look terrified Dia and he just nodded. Without a second word, Hiei jumped from the fortress and began his search for the hooded figure.

******

Derek sighed lightly as he looked out onto the nearby lake in which he and Jade had made their home. The two had been married for three months. Derek wanted to wait on the wedding, in case by some miracle Corey came back, but now it was impossible. He was nowhere to be found, and so the only thing left for them to do was move on. He casually looked down at his right arm, which was bandaged from wrist to forearm.

"Derek?" Came Jade's voice from the entrance of their home. "What're you doing?" She walked over to him and he turned to face her, smiling lightly.

"Just thinking." He stated plainly. She smiled and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Of Corey, right?"

"Yea…" he admitted. "I just can't believe it's been three years, and we know nothing of what happened to him…"

Suddenly, with out warning, Dia Jaganshi appeared in front of him, looking out of breath. This shocked both Derek and Jade.

"D-Dia Jaganshi?? What the hell are you doing here?" Derek asked, still in shock. Dia looked up from his breathing and glared.

"We have a problem, Maison, and as much as I hate to ask for your help, I need it." At that moment, Yusuke immerged from behind the house.

"Yusuke?" asked Jade.

Yusuke nodded. "Yes… it seems that we have found where the man who vanished Corey is… and the one who has just murdered Mukuro."

******

"You!!" Roared Hiei, coming to a stop behind the hooded man in black. The creature turned to face Hiei, a light chuckle coming from under his hood.

"Ah…Hiei Jaganshi. Just as I planned. I see you found Mukuro." Just hearing the man say his wife's name fueled Hiei with rage. He threw off his robes, leaving him in his traditional black shirt and pants, a long white bandage wrapped around his right arm. He held out the arm and undid the bandages with his left hand, revealing a long, black dragon tattoo. His Jagan Eye shined brilliantly red with anger.

"Prepare yourself! You're about to enter the gates of Hell, and receive judgement for killing my wife!" The Black Dragon began to erupt from the tattoo and arm. "Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"

******

"So this guy killed Mukuro, and now Hiei is going against him… by himself?!" Shouted Derek as he ran amongst side Dia, Yusuke and Jade. Dia nodded,

"Yes. My father isn't thinking straight. I could feel that creature's energy from miles away. This isn't good." The man said, running straight. His own Jagan Eye is what was leading them towards Hiei and the hooded fighter. Derek had never seen Dia like this before. It was possibly from the fight that the two had had in the Demon Realm Tournament, but he was sure that his mother dying had something to do with it.

"Look there!" Shouted Yusuke, pointing ahead, and the other three did. A large black dragon was soaring through the air up ahead.

"The Dragon of the Darkness Flame…" Jade whispered. Only three people could use that technique, and two of them were with her now.

"Let's hurry!" Derek yelled, running even faster now.

Derek and Dia were the first to arrive at the scene, and were both wide eyed as they saw the situation their teacher was in. Hiei had conjured two twin black dragons, and they were both furiously fighting the hooded figure, who wasn't so hooded anymore.

His face looked like it came from a science fiction novel, vainy and gray, and the man looked to be hundreds of years old. His eyes were jet black, and he didn't look like he had any pupils. But, age or not, he was powerful. The odd energy that he was emitting was actually holding off both dragons.

"Father!" Yelled Dia, who went to go forward to help his dad.

"_Stay back!!" _Came a voice inside both Dia and Derek's skulls. It was Hiei. Derek had forgotten the demon was a telepath. _"_

"_This is something that I have to do alone. If I fail, I leave it to you four to defeat Darkine!!" _Yusuke and Jade ran up behind Derek and Dia, who could all only watch from the side lines as Hiei lost his match. Derek could only assume that Darkine was the name of the man Hiei was fighting.

"Goodbye, Hiei. You put up a much better fight then your poor wife." And then the dragons turned on Hiei.

"What!?" The demon shouted as the dragons roared and charged at him. Darkine laughed maniacally.

"I can control space and time with my powers! That is why Mukuro's dimensional powers had no affect on me! That is how I can control your Black Dragons! And that is how I shall defeat you!!"

And the dragons launched themselves onto Hiei.

The blast from the two creatures from the depths of the Demon World caused a gigantic crater in the middle of the spot where Hiei was standing. Rubble filled the air.

"Hiei!!" Derek yelled, running towards him, but Dia had already gotten there.

"Father!" He cried, sliding next to the spot where Hiei now lay. His body was scorn, and it reminded Derek of what Corey looked like after Shura got through with his Hell's Fire technique, but for Hiei…he wasn't going to be brought back.

"Dia…" Derek said, wondering how to comfort his rival, now that both his mother and father were gone.

"Shut up, Maison." And with that, he began to walk away.

"Wait a minute… Dia!!" Derek tried to go stop him, but Yusuke placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Stop, Derek. Dia has to do what he thinks is right…"

That was the last time they ever saw Dia Jaganshi.

******

Another year went by, and after the incident with Dia there were no more signs of Darkine. Yusuke had asked Derek to take control of the Mobile Fortress along with Jade, which they both agreed to.

With the three most powerful warriors gone, and Corey still MIA, it was down to Yusuke, Derek, and Jade. Yusuke already knew that Darkine was going to come after him, so he had the entire Stone Castle evacuated. When Derek asked why, Yusuke merely smiled and said,

"I have to fight him on my own grounds, Derek. If I fail, then it will be up to you and Jade to hold him off. Get strong, Derek. With Corey gone, you are the last hope for the worlds. I know Kurama is doing his best in Spirit World, trying to pin point Darkine's location. When he finds him, I am sure he will help you."

Unfortunately, Yusuke did not succeed.

Only three weeks after Yusuke had cleared the castle, Darkine attacked. He seemed just as strong as ever, but Yusuke accepted the challenge with full resolve. The battle went on for three full days. Both Yusuke and Darkine seemed equally matched, but it is said that Yusuke was just a little underneath him power wise. Darkine took full advantage of that, and with the power of his time and space magic, he defeated Yusuke. No one exactly knows how or how much damage Yusuke had did to him, but after the battle was over, both Kurama and Derek visited the site, only to find Yusuke in a bloody mess at the base of the main tower. His spirit had already passed on.

They gave him a proper burial, as they had with Hiei, Dia and Mukuro. Nearly everyone from the Demon World Tournament, including Koenma, was there. Tears were shed for the fallen hero, but now Derek knew what must happen. He, Koenma and Kurama spoke, and it was clear that Darkine was a major threat. Kurama and Koenma both agreed to go to Spirit World and try to speak with King Yamma, Koenma's father, about what to do. They said that they would get in contact with Derek once they did.

Three more months went by, and Derek and Jade heard nothing from either of the two. Finally, Derek decided to visit Spirit World through a plant that Kurama had left him in case of emergencies. When he got there, he was horrified to find what he saw.

Demons. Demons had surrounded themselves around the Spiritual Kingdom. Thousands of them, all A or S-Class, but there was something wrong with them. They did not seem to be pure breed demons of the Demonic World. They seemed…altered. That's when Derek noticed the odd sensation of energy mixed in with their demon energy. It was just like Darkine's.

_He had this planned…this whole time! Damn it! How could we be so blind?! _Derek quickly transported back to the Demon World to inform Jade, but she had terrible news as well.

Reports from Liz in the Human World were saying that demons with the same energy as Darkine were attacking all over the world. Cities fell, as did countries. The United Nations could do nothing. Finally, one of the nations unleashed a Nuclear Bomb, dropping it on a country.

It truly was the end of all three worlds.

Time passed, and all Derek could do was watch as Darkine took over the three worlds. Spirit World was useless, and eventually the Human and Demon Worlds merged into one. After a lot of work, Derek and Jade, along with Liz and some others, created a rebel group, which was based in the Mobile Fortress. Through top demon and human engineers, they created five more fortresses. They had thousands of soldiers, but none of them seemed to be able to compare to the power of Darkine and his army.

The worlds were in chaos, and with only a few warriors left, it seemed like it would remain that way, until the end of time.


	3. Back in Action

_**Chapter 3**_

_Back in Action_

"And that is where we are now…" Arthur said, taking a slow drink from his water jug, that he had had lying next to him. Corey just stared off in disbelief.

_Yusuke? Hiei? Mukuro? You're…you're all gone? But…but you were the best! If you guys couldn't defeat this guy…_His mind trailed off as Arthur cleared his throat. Corey looked up at him,

"What?" He asked sharply, the story having greatly annoyed him, not to mention worry him, as well.

"You mustn't give up hope, Corey. There is still the Rebel Army. Derek Maison, their general and your best friend, leads them. His power has also grown exponentially over these years. His demonic power now reads close to that of Yusuke's." Arthur explained with a smile.

Corey laughed nervously. "That's great and all, but Yusuke got his ass kicked by Darkine, too."

"Ah, but don't you remember what Darkine told you when he first transported you into the future?" Arthur asked. Corey paused and ran through the whole scenario in his head, then looked back up at Arthur again.

"That prophecy deal?" he asked, and the older man nodded.

"Yes. That was the reason that Darkine teleported you through time…" he was cut off by Corey.

"Yea, that just seems messed up to me. I mean, why would he send me into the future? And why didn't he just kill me right then and there?"

Arthur smiled. "Good questions, Corey Kartana. You see, to answer the first question, I don't believe he meant to send you into our time. Remember that day? You shot your Spirit Gun directly at his Time and Space energy. I believe that that had something to do with why you got sent here, instead of into the past, which is where I think you were supposed to go. As for why he didn't kill you…it was to time wasting."

"Well…don't you make a guy feel special…" Corey commented sarcastically, glaring over at Arthur. He held up his hands in defense,

"No, no. What I meant was, is that if he fought you, that would have given Derek Maison and the others a chance to get there in time to save you, and probably defeat him. If you'll note, Darkine only ever fought someone one-on-one. That was so they'd be easier to defeat." Corey slowly rose from his spot, and Arthur watched him, "What do you plan to do now?"

Corey grinned. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to the rebel base, find Derek, train my ass off, and then fight and beat Darkine." He sounded so optimistic about it. Arthur was impressed.

"Well said. Head directly north from here. You will find a canyon where the Mobile Fortresses are stationed. Be careful, Corey Kartana. With the worlds combined like this, it has all fallen into madness. Good luck, young man. The fate of the world is in the hands of both you and General Maison."

Corey chuckled, "General Maison…it sounds so formal. Okay, gramps. I'll take care of this. See ya when I see ya!" And he quickly exited the tent, leaving Arthur smiling lightly.

"I wish you the best of luck, my young friend…"

******

Corey set off shortly after departing Arthur and his tent. Receiving a compass and a supply of dried foods and a canteen of water, he would be set for at least a few days. He was also given a cloak, which he threw around his shoulders. He didn't have his leather jacket anymore, so the cloak would have to do. Logan warned him that the North had fierce snowstorms, so he really hoped to find the Rebel's Base as quickly as possible.

_Before I burn alive…_ He added while walking through the desert. _Man, there's no way it's snowy where I'm going. I'm freakin' hot!_

******

"I stand corrected…" Corey grumbled aloud, clutching his arms together and rubbing them. The temperature over the last ten miles had dropped dramatically. What used to be around 90 degrees had quickly dropped to 10.

"Damn you, Derek! Why the hell did you choose a place like this to set up camp!"

He continued his walking through large patches of snow, happy to have the oddly warm cloak over his body and over his head. Soon, the wind started to pick up, which didn't help matters at all. He grabbed onto the end of the hood and held it over his eyes to keep snow out of them, looking down and every so often up so that he could see where he was going. His teeth were chattering and it felt like his entire body had gone numb.

_Crap…I better make it out of here soon…_ He thought to himself, and to his great surprise he felt a demonic energy nearby. A very familiar energy, too, but a lot stronger.

_Derek?_ He thought to himself and quickened his pace. He soon found himself on top of a ledge, and he could only assume this was the canyon that Arthur had spoke of. He looked around and through the patches of snow he saw a small group of people, fighting off a whole squadron of demons. The one at the front of the people was where most of the energy was coming from.

The man had long, dark brown hair that went down a little passed his neck. His eyes were two different colors, one green and the other blue. He had a rough beard going, which looked like it was 5 o'clock shadow. He wore a black cloak, and underneath it was a black shirt and pants. On his arm were white bandages, wrapped around it. A pair of black boots were also worn, as well as a pair of gloves. The gloved hands held a katana that was soaked in demonic blood.

Corey didn't even need to see all these things to know who this man was, and it made him grin.

"Derek." He said quietly.

******

Thirty minutes earlier, Derek Maison would have never expected an attack on the rebel's base. The past two weeks had been calm, and it seemed like they had finally found a place to rest his troops for a while…but fate seemed to play another card.

It was his scout that had seen the army approach, and Derek knew quickly what to do. He ordered for his own strongest troops to get ready, he included.

"Prepare yourselves! The twelve that will be with me will man the front sector! The rest of the troops will surround themselves around the mobile bases!" From the energy readings he had sensed, he knew that most of the fighters were merely C and B-Class demons, but there were six A-Class and S-Class, which he knew had to be Co-Captains.

In Darkine's army, there were one hundred Co-Captains, and twelve Captains. The captains were the most powerful demons in all of Darkine's armies. Derek had some how managed to defeat two of them. Two more were posted outside of the Spirit Kingdom, and four patrolled Darkine's tower. The other four went around the two worlds, reeking havoc as they went, merely for there own pleasure. It sickened Derek.

"Derek?" asked a voice from behind him. Derek turned to see Jade, still as beautiful as the day they had met, but eight months pregnant with their baby boy. It made Derek smile to see her, he needed something to cheer him up. He walked over to her and kissed her gently on the lips.

"Hello, my love." He said, smiling lightly.

"You will be careful, right?" Jade asked, smiling lightly and taking his hands into hers.

Derek winked. "Of course. I'm still alive, aren't I?" he continued to smile and kissed her once more. "You take care of yourself, and don't stress. It's bad for the baby." He gently touched her stomach with his left hand. The child kicked gently from inside of Jade's stomach, and the two looked at each other.

"It looks like Cory is going to miss you, too." Jade said, giggling lightly. Derek also laughed. The two had decided when they first found out about Jade's pregnancy that they were going to name the baby boy after their lost friend. It filled Derek with pride knowing that Corey would be happy for them.

"I have to go now. I love you." He said, kissing her once more and then exiting the room, smiling lightly.

_Corey…I'm sure you'd be proud…I just wish you could be here to help me out._

That was thirty minutes ago. Now, Derek was wishing he was back in his room with his wife. Blood splattered on his cloak as he cut down another of the Co-Captains.

_That leaves four more!_ He thought to himself as he engaged another. They knew that Derek was stronger then them, so they began to engage him on 4 on 1. One lashed at him, cutting him with his own sword as he parried another. They all looked human, but the demon energy in them was terrifying to most.

"Shit!" Derek swore as the blade made contact with his right arm, but part of him grinned. "Now you're done for." The bandages that were around his arm fell off in a clean slice, revealing a black dragon tattoo that wrapped around the arm. He jumped away from the demons and grinned even more.

"Now you will face…The Dragon of the Darkness Flame!!" He shouted, and extended his arm and unleashed the black dragon onto them. It roared loudly and blasted three of them down with its flames, sending them into the fires of Hell…but one was missing. Derek looked around quickly to find the last remaining beast, but it seemed futile.

"Where…are you?" He asked allowed, the dragon still soaring around above him, taking down a few of the weaker demons as it did.

Suddenly, he felt a powerful Spiritual Energy coming right at him. He jumped out of the way, but heard a scream from behind him. He turned and saw the Co-Captain, down and with a large gape out of his stomach.

"Wh-what?" Derek asked aloud. "Who the hell could have done this?" At that moment, he heard the thud of snow near the walls of the cliff. He turned to see a cloaked being. His first inclination was that it was Darkine, but then he realized it was Spiritual Energy that was emitting from him.

"Who are you?" Derek demanded, walking towards the person. The figure didn't say anything, just watched as Derek came closer to him. This annoyed Derek.

"I'm asking you a question!" Derek roared. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the save, but strong humans were nearly impossible to find nowadays, and the ones that were around had joined Darkine as cultists. Derek raised his hand into the air as the Black Dragon submerged back into his arm, the tattoo fading onto his arm once again. He pointed his right hand right at the figure.

"Tell me who you are or I will use this attack on you." Derek threatened, but to his surprise the person laughed.

"Jeez…you sure have gotten bitchy. I figure you'd be happy to see me!"

"How can I know who you are if I can't see your face?!" Derek said, feeling an odd excitement building in his stomach.

_That voice…it can't be. And that attack. The effects of it seemed so…familiar._ Derek watched as the person put his gloved hands on the top of his hood.

"I figure you'd have gotten it by now. Still dumb, I see." He laughed once more, and then threw off the hood. Derek could have fallen over in shock.

There, standing in front of him, was an eighteen-year-old human boy. He had spiky brown hair, and hazel colored eyes. He had a brown goatee, with a few shades of red on its sides. He wore a brown t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans underneath his cloak. He had a pair of tennis shoes on, and a pair of black leather gloves with no fingers on them.

It was him.

"What's up, Derek?" Corey asked, grinning wide, "Miss me?"


	4. The Rebel's Base

_**Chapter 4**_

_The Rebel's Base_

"Corey?" Derek asked, still looking dumbfounded. "But…but I thought…you've been gone for fifteen years!" He almost couldn't believe it, but here he was, standing right in front of him. The spirit energy checked out, as well.

"Of course it's me, you schmuck." Corey laughed, putting his hands behind his head. "You think someone like Darkine could off me? Yea, right!" Still not knowing if Derek actually believed him (he couldn't blame him, he had been gone for 15 years, and looked exactly like he did when he vanished) he held out his hand and grinned, "For love."

Derek grinned as well. "And for war."

******

Word spread quickly about the return of Corey. Jade and Liz were the first to meet him. Corey was relieved to see that Liz and Jade both hadn't changed much. Liz's hair was braided down to her waist, but her clothes had hardly changed at all. The only difference in Jade that Corey noticed was that she seemed tired, and mellower…that and the fact that her stomach looked like it was going to explode. That's when they mentioned their…new arrival.

"You're having a _what?!" _Corey exclaimed, shocked and looking back and forth between Derek and Jade. They all laughed,

"A baby, Corey." Jade said, smiling at him, "And we're actually naming it after you."

"Really?" Corey asked, blinking, "Why me?"

"We thought you were dead, Corey…we found it only proper to name our first born after you." Derek said with a grin. "Is that okay?" Corey paused and then held out his hand and touched Jade's stomach. There was a kick that made Corey quickly move his hand back, and smile.

"Oh yea…that's perfectly fine with me."

Although the reuniting of the friends was over joyful, Derek did have to pull Corey off to the side to deliver some bad news. Corey's mother had passed away three years ago of a strange demonic disease that had entered the Human World when Darkine took over. The doctors in the base had no treatment for it. Derek, Liz and Jade all stayed by her side until the end, when she had muttered her final words,

"Corey's alive…I can feel it."

And she passed on.

Corey's father had also passed away. He was a soldier in the Rebel Army, and fought bravely with Derek as a Lieutenant. One day, while he and a group of soldiers were scouting, Darkine's men made a pre-emptive strike on the group. There were only three demons, but they were powerful. The group of soldiers only managed to defeat two until they all fell but Corey's father. He fought the demon with the last bit of his strength and won, and was able to go back and inform Derek about the attack, before he died of injuries.

The news crushed Corey, but he kept on a pleasant look. He had too. He knew that so many people in this place had lost loved ones, as well…even if it did mean that he didn't have a family anymore. He just smiled at them and nodded,

"Thanks for telling me."

That night, there was a banquet held in Corey's honor. They had all known of the prophecy where a Maison and a Kartana were to defeat Darkine, and with Corey back hope filled everyone's hearts. Corey sat with the three generals at the head of the table: Derek, Jade and Liz. Corey informed the three of what had happened, since that question had finally come up. That is when Derek made an announcement.

"My comrades! This is my good friend Corey Kartana. He was the first one to ever encounter Darkine, and was soon transported through time by him. Darkine had intended that Corey be banished back into time, but by some fortune he did the opposite, arriving here. With his help, I know we will be able to defeat Darkine, instead of just defend! So, I appoint Corey the title of General in the Rebel Army!"

Cheers and roars of joy were heard through out the compound, and all Corey could do was stand and give a little wave. The night went on peacefully until finally the party died down. Derek showed Corey to his new quarters,

"Corey…you don't know how great it is to see you again." He said while standing in the room. It was a fairly good size. It had a king size bed with a private bathroom and living closet. "Tomorrow, I'll bring you your old things."

"You kept my stuff?" Corey asked, blinking.

Derek chuckled. "Your mother refused to let us get rid of it…not that we were going to, anyway. She told us you were alive, and I believed her, so I did." He smirked and put his hand on Corey's shoulder.

"Rest my friend. Tomorrow we…" Derek started to say, but Corey smirked and swatted his hand away.

"Tomorrow we're gonna start my training. I have fifteen years to catch up on, and only a little time to do it." He said, tossing his cloak on a nearby chair. Derek nodded and smiled.

"Right…g'night, pal." And he exited, leaving Corey alone in the room…but he didn't stay long. He needed to clear his head, and being cooped up in a bedroom wasn't going to help.

The young man soon found himself on the top of the Mobile Fortress, looking out into the snowy fields. The stars and moon were all out, and it illuminated the snow. As Corey stared off into the night, he felt his throat start to hurt and his eyes began to burn. He thought of his parents…his other family members and the friends who didn't make it to the Rebel Base…and tears streamed down his cheeks through closed eyes. He didn't even hear the footsteps coming from behind him.

"Corey?" he quickly wiped his eyes and saw Jade standing before him. Corey blinked a few times and turned back around, still feeling the burning in his eyes, and now his cheeks.

"Oh…hey, Thief. What's up? Shouldn't you be resting?" he asked, his voice sounding choked. She walked over and stood beside him,

"I'm fine…I don't sleep much at night anymore. Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" He defended quickly.

"Corey…I can tell these things. Kind of like a motherly instinct I'm getting. You miss your parents, don't you?" There was a long pause, and Corey just stared off into nothingness, until,

"Of course I do…I hadn't even thought about them until I arrived here. I know that sounds terrible, but I just assumed that they would be…you know…"

To Corey's surprise, Jade wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Corey stood there, frozen.

"Corey…you don't have to keep thinking your tough shit all the time. It's okay to let go every so often. You're young, after all, and the weight of the world is literally on your shoulders." She just smiled. Corey let out a soft sigh. Jade sure had gotten wise, that's for sure. He smiled and pulled away.

"Thanks, Thief…I needed that." He said, still using her nickname, and she wouldn't have expected anything else from him.

******

"Begin!" Shouted Derek, and with a nod Corey exploded with Spiritual Energy.

It was the next day, and Derek woke Corey up at 9 A.M. to begin his training. The two walked about half a mile away from the mobile fortresses, not wanting to get anyone harmed from their first bout. Derek wanted to see exactly how they compared after fifteen years of no training for Corey. He led him into another part of the canyon, covered in snow of course, and faced him.

The crowd of people, who had followed them there, were dazzled by the spectacle, amazed at how much energy an eighteen-year-old boy can have. Derek merely smirked,

"Pretty good. I see going fifteen years into the future hasn't changed your power any…but that's the problem!"

And then Derek summoned his own demonic power.

The sheer volume of energy that he was producing pushed Corey backwards. Derek was at least five times stronger then what he was at the end of the Demon Realm Tournament.

Corey laughed. "I'm glad to see you finally caught up to me!"

Derek chuckled. "I've far surpassed you, my old friend."

"Old? You're one to talk! What are you, in your forties?"

"I'm thirty-four!"

"Meh." Corey laughed, and through off the cloak he had been wearing. The surge of spirit energy through his body was warm enough for him. The crowd of rebels all looked in awe as the two warriors stared each other down.

"Ready, Corey? I wont hold back…you have to find out what kind of power Darkine really has!" The energy that Derek was producing seemed to grow even more,

"And I'm not even nearly as strong as he is!!" Derek rushed at Corey with phenomenal speed, making it so the younger man could barely hold up his arm to block a punch that Derek delivered going for his stomach. The force reminded him far too much of a punch from Yusuke, and it had the same impact. Corey was hurdled through the snowy fields and into the side of the canyon. Luckily it hadn't caused an avalanche. Corey quickly picked himself up and grinned at Derek,

"You sure did improve!" He laughed, holding up his fists, "But you never did get to see the full extents of my training first hand."

Gripping his hands into fists, Corey ran at Derek, but not in a straight path. He zigzagged, right to left, left to right, trying to confuse Derek. The older man watched carefully, but Corey's unruly tactics proved no match for him, as he delivered a right hook with a mass amount of spirit energy backing it up. Derek's cheek was pushed in a bit and he slid backwards.

Corey grinned. "I still got it." But as he said it, Derek's foot made contact with Corey's ribs, and pushed him right down into the snow. Derek smiled and rubbed his cheek slightly.

"Nice hit…but I barely felt it. You still got your moves, Corey, but your power is what we need to work on." Corey slowly rose from the snowy ground, gripping his side, still smirking.

"Probably…but let's not forget this." He held out his right hand and pointed his index finger towards Derek. His eyes widened as he watched Corey's spiritual energy flow around the tip of the finger. Derek jumped back and smiled, holding out his hand and waving Corey closer.

"Bring it." Derek said.

Corey grinned wider. "I plan on it! Spirit Gun!" And the bullet was shot out of his finger. The spiritual bullet was huge, enough to take out the whole canyon. Corey might have gone a bit over board, but he wanted to see just how good Derek had gotten. Derek stood there and extended his own hand, smiling.

"Black Dragon Claw." Came the words from his mouth. At once, his whole hand burst into a black flame and in the shape of a dragon's claw. It caught the spirit bullet, and he held it in his hand as Corey watched in disbelief.

"What?" Corey asked confused at what he was seeing.

Derek smirked. "I can control the Dragon of the Darkness Flame in an absolute sense. I am the dragon now, Corey, just like Hiei was, but not even he had mastered it like I have. I can create the black flames around any part of my body, like you see now." He laughed and merely threw the spirit bullet into the air as if it was a pebble. Corey wasn't smiling anymore.

"Nice trick…" he grumbled, and Derek smiled and walked over to him.

"Come on, Corey, I got fifteen years on you. You'll get a lot stronger…trust me." At that moment, a soldier walked up to Derek and saluted.

"Sir. General Wolf has returned with the spy troops." He informed.

Derek nodded. "Good. Tell him I'll meet him in the command center." The soldier nodded and ran off. Corey blinked a few times and looked back at Derek.

"Who?" Corey asked.

Derek smiled. "General John Wolf, a good friend of mine who has helped me a lot in this war against Darkine. Come on, I'll introduce you." He gestured for Corey to follow him as he walked out, but Corey merely grumbled.

"He'd better be cool…I hate the army type…"

Corey and Derek entered command center, Corey trailing a little farther behind. The command center was a large room with a few computers around, and a large circled table in the center. At the front of the table was a man with Irish red hair, and a short beard to boot. He was draped in army cameo, and wore black boots and a pair of black gloves. On each of his sides was a pistol in its holster. He held up his hand and saluted Derek,

"It's good to see you again, Derek." He said with a smile. Derek nodded and saluted back,

"Likewise. John, this is Corey Kartana. I believe that you were informed of his return." Corey stepped forward and gave a slight wave to John.

"Yo." Corey said simply.

John smiled. "Corey…it's nice to meet you. Derek told me a lot about you from the old days."

"Oh? Anything good?"

John chuckled. "He claimed that he saved your ass a bunch…about how you two defeated Shura, son of Yomi."

Corey frowned. "That's a load of shit…_I_ beat Shura, and Derek merely got a cheap shot on him!"

"Corey!" Derek yelled from the side, "We've been over this a thousand times! You'd have been dead without me!"

"I don't know, Derek…" John teased, which caused Derek to glare at him.

"You, too?!"

Corey laughed. "Heeeey! I _do _like this guy!" Corey and John both laughed, and soon Derek had no choice but to laugh along with them. Thus, the new friendship of Corey and John was born. After a moment, Derek looked back at Corey and smirked,

"Corey…I wanna show you something."

Derek led Corey back into the Mobile Fortress, and into what looked like a very secured area. He entered a code into a keypad and the doors to the room opened. They walked in and Corey couldn't help but gape at what he saw.

Weapons. Lots and lots of weapons. They ranged from swords to guns to, well, anything. He grinned a bit at a certain sword that he saw in a glass case.

"Tetsaru." He said aloud and glanced over at Derek, who nodded.

"Yes…after you vanished, I took the sword and kept it with me. I couldn't use it, unfortunately. It takes spirit energy to use that particular weapon." He smiled and grabbed it, swinging it in the air, and then handing it to Corey, who took it and looked at the blade.

"It's been awhile since I held a sword…" he laughed. "Well, to me it's only been a week, but you know what I mean."

Already he could feel the spirit energy of the sword absorb into his body. He smiled lightly and looked at Derek,

"Thanks for saving it. I appreciate it."

Derek chuckled. "No problem…maybe now you can keep up with me."

"Yea, and now maybe I can—"But his insult was cut off by a soldier running into the room.

"General Maison!" he called out, out of breathe. Corey and Derek both looked at him,

"What? What is it?" Derek asked quickly.

"It's your wife, sir! She's gone into labor!"

"What?!!"


	5. The New Arrival

_**Chapter 5**_

_The New Arrival_

Corey and Derek ran down the halls of the Mobile Fortress at top speed, blasting post any person who was in their way. Corey noticed the fearful look on Derek's face, and couldn't help but smirk.

_He has good reason…he is about to be a father…_

The two friends made it to the hospital wing of the complex and both stopped at the entrance of a highly guarded room. One of the soldiers looked at Derek.

"Sir! Your wife is…" but Derek didn't need to be told. He rushed in, pushing the guard to the side. Corey quickly apologized for his friend's actions, and then entered in after.

He stopped dead in the doorway, right next to Derek as he saw Jade with a medical blanket over her, and a furious expression on her face, three doctors trying to calm her down, and John and Liz looking over at Derek and Corey.

"The miracle of childbirth…" he said, with a shrug. Jade screamed loudly, and all three of them quickly covered their ears.

"What the hell, man!? Don't you have some kinda new drug or something to give her?" Corey yelled through the screams of Jade.

"No…we haven't been able to make to many medical advances!" Liz shouted back. Derek had slipped into his own little world at this point in time, and the other two both blinked.

"Derek?" Corey asked.

"You all right?" John asked, glancing at him and then at Jade, who was glaring at Derek.

"Get your ass over here! Now!!" She screamed, which seemed to knock some sense into Derek and he quickly ran over and grabbed her hand.

"Jade…it's gonna be okay!" He said, trying to calm her down, but then got a very painful expression on his face. Corey looked and saw that Jade was squeezing his hand rather tightly.

"Ouch…" Corey mumbled. There was another scream, and the doctor looked at them all.

"The babies coming!" he said and readied himself.

"Oh shit!!" Derek and Corey both exclaimed, and Jade let out one final scream…

******

"Heh…he's beautiful!" Liz said with a smile.

"He looks just like his mom." Corey said with a grin.

"But he has his father's eyes and hair." John pointed out.

"Wow…" was all Derek could say.

The drama of the childbirth was over, and the four of them were all huddled around the bed where Jade lay, cradling her newborn baby son in her arms. The child cried quietly in his mother's arms as Jade gently started to rock it back and forth. She looked up at her husband and smiled,

"Don't you want to see your son, Derek?" she asked, holding up the baby towards him. Derek looked extremely nervous as he reached his arms out and took the baby into his hands. The baby looked up at his father, and then burped out a flame stream from his mouth. Derek blinked as the flames erupted in his face. Luckily, being the type of demon he was, it had no affect, but Corey, Liz and John were both staring.

"Uh…Derek? You okay?" Corey asked. He looked over at his friend, with black marks from the flames on his face, and laughed.

"Just like me when I was a kid."

******

It was a whole four days until Jade and Cory were able to go back to their room. They had named the child after Corey like they had planned, but just slipped out a syllable in the name. The young boy was healthy as could be, but Jade had taken an unfortunate side effect from the childbirth. Her demonic energy had decreased dramatically from her usual S-Class, to a lower B-Class. She was healthy, which was a relief to Derek and the others, but she was no longer able to be in command of her unit in the rebel army. She asked if Corey would be willing to take over the role as general, which he agreed too.

******

Four months passed, and life was going fairly well for everyone at the Rebel Base. Darkine had not made any more attempts on the base, which was good for them all. Jade had gone down to her usual size, and was always seen caring around her little one. Derek was never to far behind, as well. Corey and John were constantly training with one another when Derek was busy, and when he could actually get away from his family; he'd help Corey train even more.

It was a daily thing. Corey needed to get stronger for when they faced off against Darkine in the final showdown. He didn't know when it would be, but he knew he was going to do it. He had to. Derek and him were the only ones capable of doing it.

******

A few more weeks had passed when Jade came up to Corey and asked him for a favor. He was hanging out on top of the fortress, bundled in his leather jacket, (which had gotten re-custom made by a brilliant spiritual tailor) sweatshirt, jeans and gloves.

"What's up, Thief?" he asked as she walked towards him. Cory wasn't with her, but that was to be expected. It was far to cold for a five-month-old baby to be outside in freezing weather.

She smiled. "Actually, I was going to see if you and Liz wouldn't mind babysitting tonight."

Corey blinked. "What? I'm no babysitter, Thief, I haven't babysat since I was twelve."

"Aw, come on, Corey! It'll be fine. Derek and I just want to have some time alone and do, well, husband and wife things."

"Gross…" he said, snickering as she turned red.

"Oh, grow up."

"Not my fault you're 15 years older then me!" Corey laughed even harder as she smacked him across the head with her palm.

"Well… will you?" she asked, frowning lightly.

Corey smirked. "Yea, I guess. I am 'Uncle Corey' after all." Jade smiled and nodded,

"Thanks, Corey. Be over at our room at seven, okay?" She then walked off, leaving Corey to stand there. He put his hands behind his head and sighed.

"How hard can it be?"

******

Derek smiled lightly as Jade met him in an extra room of one of the fortresses. He had spent a lot of time setting this date deal up, and wanted it to go smoothly. It was the first time he actually got to get away with his wife since their newborn. The room was slightly dark, with a few candles around the walls, and a three set candle deal on the center of the clothed table. Derek was wearing black dress pants, a white shirt, and a black jacket over it all. His shoes were dress, as well. He looked in awe as she sat down at the table, looking across from him.

"Hi there." She said with a smile. She wore a beautiful red dress, with shoulder straps and a slit down the chest. She was going barefoot. It was hard to find a decent pair of woman's shoes in this day and age, and Jade did not want to insult the dress by wearing her boots.

"You look beautiful." He said, smiling lightly.

"Thank you." She said, turning slightly pink in the cheeks, "So…what do we have planned for tonight, Derek?"

He winked at her. "You'll see." At that moment, the door opened to the room, and there was John, dressed similar to Derek but with no jacket.

"John?" Jade asked, a bit confused at why their general was in there. John grinned and turned around, pulling in a tray with two meals atop of it.

"Dinner is served." He said, smirking still and placing the meals on the table. They both had two breasted chickens with a sauce on them, a baked potatoes, and vegetables. Jade was about to compliment both Derek and John about all of this, when John pulled out a bottle of wine. Vintage date was 2034.

"Oh my God, Derek…you…you did all of this?" She asked, staring at disbelief at her husband, who was only smiling. John began pouring the wine.

"I really couldn't have done it without John. He's an amazing cook." Derek replied, still smiling, "Corey also provided the wine. He had apparently been saving it for a special occasion, and he figured this was the best bet."

Jade chuckled. "What was he going to need wine for?"

"Who knows," Derek replied, taking his glass of wine and holding it up, and Jade doing the same, "I love you, Jade Maison."

She smiled. "I love you, too, Derek Maison." The two clinked glasses and took a sip of their wine.

"Mmm…it's amazing. Corey must have been pissed that we're drinking it." Jade commented, chuckling lightly.

"Nah, he's not into wine. Champaign, maybe, but not wine." They both laughed, and Derek took her hands from over the table.

As if on cue, a light music began to play in the background. It wasn't a live band or anything, just a music player Derek had rigged up. Derek stood; taking Jade with him and the two began to dance, staring at each other's eyes the whole time.

John stepped out at this time, closing the door behind him. He walked outside and drew out a cigarette, and lit up. He blew out the smoke slowly and stared off.

"Hope Corey and Liz are doing okay with that kid…"

******

"Jesus Christ!!!" Corey screamed and jumped away from the now flaming couch. Baby Cory was just giggling away as he tested out his flame powers out on the furniture. Corey glared over at Liz,

"What the hell do we do??" he shouted at her.

"Rock him back and forth! Entertain him! I'll get him some milk. Derek told me that he does this when he gets hungry."

"What the hell kinda hungry habit is that?!" He called out as Liz left the room. He looked over at the smiling baby and grinned lightly,

"Okay…come on, Baby Cory. Come to your Uncle Corey…" he said, slowly moving over to him. He managed to pick him up, and the baby just started staring up at him.

"Hey…that wasn't that hard." He said, smirking and tickling under his chin. The baby giggled and let out a streak of fire, which Corey narrowly dodged by turning his head to the side.

"Okay…no tickling…" he said, sweating a bit. Liz finally returned with the milk and set it down on the table.

"See? Was that that hard?" she asked him, taking the baby from him and feeding him his bottle.

"Not really…I guess he's okay." He said, watching Liz feed the baby. A little burp of fire meant that Cory was done, and Liz sent the bottle down. Corey glanced at it and grabbed it, held it up and squeezed the bottle, the milk shooting into his mouth like a squirt gun. Liz glanced at him and gasped,

"Corey! What the hell?!" She said, still rocking Cory.

"What? Its just milk and Derek doesn't have shit for beverages!" He started to take another drink when Liz interrupted him,

"Corey! That's breast milk!" She shouted. Corey blinked, looked at the milk, and then spit out the liquid.

"What?!! Who the hell puts…so that was from…goddammit!!" he ran to the sink and turned on the faucet, and drank the water right from it, leaving Liz to laugh at him as she rocked the baby to sleep.

******

"Corey? Liz? We're home." Came the voice of Jade, walking into the door along with Derek. She blinked, seeing Liz fast asleep on the couch, Baby Cory in his crib, but no Corey.

"Where is he?" she asked, looking at Derek, who merely shrugged.

"I don't know…hey, Corey! Where are ya, pal?" he called out, and heard a voice from the balcony,

"Out here!" he shouted. Derek nodded to Jade, who went over and picked up her baby, who had woken up when they walked in. Derek walked outside and looked at Corey, who was doing one-armed push-ups. Around his wrists and ankles were golden energy rings that took a bracelet type look.

"You're training? At this time of night?" he asked, leaning against the railing. Corey nodded; sweat dripping off from his brow.

"Yea…I can't just be a babysitter all night, ya know. So once Liz and the kid fell asleep, I started working out."

"Well, aren't we the muscle head?" Derek mused, smiling.

"Yea, well, like I keep saying…I gotta catch up. Fifteen years is a long time…and according to that prophecy deal, you and I are the only ones who can beat Darkine." He sprang himself up and landed on his feet.

"How are the Spirit Cuffs working out?" Derek asked, pointing at the cuffs around Corey's wrists.

Spirit Cuffs were an invention created to suppress spiritual energy, and force the user to constantly keep his or her spirit energy up at full power. They only worked with spirit energy, so they were useless to demons. Liz had found the spell years ago, and used it on some of the spirit warriors of the army.

"There fine… not exactly a fashion statement, but whatever." He slipped his socks, shoes and gloves back on, which hid the glowing aura of energy.

"Heh, oh well. I'm going to get Liz home. Cory must have put you two through a lot." He chuckled, "You taking off, too?"

Corey nodded. "Yea…just lemme finish up here." Derek nodded and left the balcony. Corey grabbed his jacket and walked back inside, but quickly turned as he saw Jade breast-feeding Cory.

"Sorry…" Corey said quickly.

Jade laughed. "It's fine, Corey…they're covered." Corey sighed and looked at her, a blanket covering the baby's head. He chuckled,

"Jeez, kiddo, I don't see how you like that stuff." Jade blinked and looked at him,

"What?" she asked, looking confused. Corey gulped and held up his hands, grinning quickly.

"Uhh…nothing! I mean breast milk can't taste good, right? Not that I'd know…uhh…cause I mean, I didn't drink any on accident…umm…bye!!"

And with that he quickly bolted out the door, just as Derek was opening it. He blinked, and then looked at his wife, who had a blank look on her face.

"What was that about?" Derek asked, confused.

Jade blinked a few times. "I don't…know…"

******

Corey yawned loudly as he walked down the hall towards the cafeteria of the fortress. It was around nine o'clock, and he was just getting up. Not that he had much to do before then. As he entered, he saw Derek and John waving him over, and he nodded, waving back and then walking towards them.

"What's up?" he asked, sitting down on the opposite side of John from Derek.

"Not much. Just talking about a new training method." John replied, taking a bite out of the piece of toast he had in front of him.

"Oh? Do tell." Corey said, but never got the answer, because at that moment, a soldier came running in through the doors, a panicked look on his face. The three quickly stood up,

"Generals!" the young man called out.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"Darkine! Darkine's soldiers are attacking the base!"

******

Corey, Derek, and John ran down the halls of the base and towards the main entrance. All three of them were equipped for battle. Corey had his Tetsaru in his hand, Derek had his katana sheathed, and John had two Chinese Hook Blades, a kind that Corey had never seen before, strapped to his back. He also had a pair of strangely shaped handguns at his side. The alarms were ringing loudly, notifying everyone of the attack.

Woman and children were evacuated into the main fortress, while the soldiers were already getting ready in formation. Derek was given word that Jade and Cory were safe, which relieved him. They made it outside and up the cliffs, where five thousand of their soldiers were waiting for there command. Before them, about a mile away, was twice the amount of soldiers that they had. Corey grimaced, clutching the Tetsaru tightly in his hand.

"So…what now?" Corey asked, glancing at Derek.

"What else? We fight." Derek replied.

John smirked and unsheathed his two weapons. "Ready?"

"Oh yea." Corey said, grinning, "Let's do it!"


	6. Battle in the Snow

_**Chapter 6**_

_Battle in the Snow_

A loud roar could be heard through out the battlefield. Corey turned to see a large bird like creature, possibly an oversized raven, flying ahead. On top of it, was an extremely large warrior draped in black armor and a long red cape that looked very tattered. He carried with him a large battle-axe. Corey noticed Derek wince slightly,

"What's up? Who is that guy?" Corey asked, looking between Derek and John.

John frowned. "A Captain…one of the strongest in Darkine's army. You've heard of them, haven't you, Corey?" He asked, glancing at him.

"Yea…Liz gave me the heads up on them awhile back. There are twelve, right?" Corey asked, looking over at the other two.

John nodded. "Right…well, there used to be. Derek has beaten two of them, leaving ten. From are knowledge, there are still four guarding Darkine's fortress, three at Spirit World, and another three roaming around…I'm assuming our friend up in the sky is one of the roamers."

Corey smirked. "Well…let's give it a welcoming party," he said, stepping forward to challenge the demon but Derek put his hand on Corey's soldier.

"Corey…I'll take him. You handle the groundlings."

Corey turned and glared. "What? Why do I have to do all the dirty work?"

"Because, Corey, all though you have gotten stronger since you arrived here, you're not near the strength it takes to defeat a Captain. Just leave him to me."

And with that, Derek's demonic power flared up, catching the Captain's attention. He jerked the reins that he had on the giant raven and it began to fly towards them. Derek looked over at Corey and John, and nodded,

"Go!" He ordered, and jumped back to get the powerful creature out of harms way. Corey sighed and nodded,

"Fine! But I get the next one!" He yelled and charged up his own Spiritual Power and ran towards the upcoming group of soldiers.

******

This truly was war. All over thousands of screams of rage and pain echoed through the air. Corey couldn't even tell where half of them were coming from. All he could think about right now was his own life. A demon launched himself onto Corey, who merely sliced the beast into two, blood spurting around him.

_Shit! They just keep coming! I've killed twenty already! Oh, crap!_ A swarm of beasts began running right towards Corey, who sighed and extended his arm and sword.

"You bastards aren't even going to come close to this place!" He shouted as spiritual energy began circulating around the Tetsaru. With one quick swing, the Spirit Slash was unleashed, hurling a fissure of spirit energy right at and through a group of demons. Corey, not one to waste time, ran right past him and hurled himself at the next set of monsters.

_I hope the others are doing okay…_

******

John breathed heavily as he took down another one of the demons that had been attacking. His hook blades were stained with blood already.

He smirked. _I'm gonna have to clean you guys later…_ He thought. With a quick slash, John took down another set of demons. It was then that he noticed Corey running towards him, hacking down demons left and right.

"Corey! You doing okay?" John called out, catching Corey's attention.

"Having the time of my life!" He shouted back, grinning. The demons actually began working together at that point. They had soon circled around both Corey and John, leaving the two warriors back to back.

"Well, well…I think that they might think they got us cornered." Corey mused, smirking lightly.

John nodded in agreement. "Sad, really."

It was then that Corey noticed the faintness of Spiritual Power coming from John's weapons.

"What the hell?" He asked, glancing at him. John picked up on what he was talking about and smiled,

"They're called Spirit Weapons," John explained, "Spiritual Warriors and our own scientists created them. They channel the spirit energy of humans into the weapons once they touch them, giving them just enough power to be able to cut down the demonic type."

The demons began to walk around them, moving ever so slowly towards them,

"I myself can't control my spiritual energy, but apparently I have a nice amount of it. Hence why I've been cutting through these bastards like butter." He winked and watched as the demons attacked. John slashed at the first, Corey following in suit with his own sword.

"So then, I guess you're pretty good with those swords, eh?" Corey asked while in mid-strike.

"Decent enough!" John answered, decapitating a demon with one swoop. He gripped the hook sword tightly, and then threw it, gauging one of the demons as it did. John the quickly drew the first handgun and shot. Corey was a bit surprised at the surge of spirit energy he felt as the bullet went out.

_It's like my Spirit Gun, but with real bullets and less power…heh heh…_ Corey looked over and saw a large demon coming right towards him. John looked at it.

"Corey! That's a Co-Captain!" He informed, but Corey kept merely grinning. He placed the Tetsaru in his left hand and extended his right arm.

"Bring it." He said, charging the spiritual energy into his index finger. The large demon lashed out at the young man, but not until a massive spirit bullet took off its head. Corey sighed and smirked, placing the sword back in its original hand.

"And that's how it's done!" He yelled, before going off and rejoining the mass battle.

******

Derek was having a bit more trouble then Corey and John were. The Demon Captain, named Gebu, was giving Derek a run for his money in the fight. Gebu, holding the large battle-axe at his side, laughed at Derek, who had just received a powerful knee to the stomach.

"General Derek Maison…I heard you were a lot stronger then this!" He bellowed, laughing. Derek glared at him and extended his right arm.

"Just wait…the party's just starting." Black flames began to circulate around Derek's arm, but it wasn't forming the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. It was moving towards his katana, and soon sprouted into a glowing black sword. The energy from the Black Dragon could be sensed from the blade.

"Black Dragon Sword…it conserves the energy that I use from the Dragon and wraps it around my katana. Neat, eh?" Derek said, holding the blade at ready.

"It's a lovely trick, but you won't be able to beat me with it!" Gebu shouted and charged at Derek, his battle-axe at ready. Derek braced himself for the attack, and their two weapons collided with one another. Derek grit his teeth as Gebu started to push him back.

_He's so damn strong!_ Derek thought to himself as he was pushed back, _I gotta do something…got it!_ As Derek slid backwards, he had noticed how close they were getting to the cliffs. He grinned,

"You may have size on me, Gebu, but you don't have near my speed!" Derek ducked down, and to Gebu it looked like an opportune strike. He swung down at Derek, who seemingly just vanished right before him,

"What?!" Shouted Gebu in rage and looked behind him, only to find Derek swinging his blade right at his chest. It didn't cause too much damage, but as Gebu tried to regain his footing, he found that he was on the edge of the cliff.

Stabbing the katana into the ground, Derek thrusted his right arm right at Gebu, and unleashed the Dragon of the Darkness Flame at point blank, sending the demon down off the cliff and into oblivion. Derek took a step back, but felt extremely dizzy.

_The Dragon of the Darkness Flame…right after using the Black Dragon Sword…consuming… _

And his eyes began to close and he fell backwards, but was caught off guard to not fall straight onto the ground, but to fall into someone. He slowly turned around and saw it was Corey, who was grinning and had bloodstains all over him.

"What's up, pal?" He asked, helping him out by throwing Derek's arm over his shoulder.

"Not…much. Is the battle over?" Derek asked, glancing towards the battlefield. Thousands of corpses, demon and human, were scattered everywhere.

"Yea…we won, but we had casualties…" Corey replied, also looking towards the mounds of bodies.

"That's war, Corey…" Derek said, smiling lightly, "At least we won the battle."

Corey grinned lightly. "Yea…and soon, we'll win the war."

******

After a few days of recovery, Corey, Derek and John were all back to normal health. None of them had taken many serious wounds. It was all mostly just a lack of energy. The total casualty count was 402. It didn't seem like a lot to some, but Corey couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. He had never experienced war like his comrades here, so he tried to keep his cool.

As Derek spent the day with Jade and Cory; John, Corey and Liz were all relaxing in the cafeteria. Corey was scarfing down some lunch, while Liz and John both had coffee.

"Corey, you're going to become fat if you keep eating like that!" Liz scowled. Corey blinked and looked up at her,

"What? Hell no. I happen to have a high metabolism!" He retorted, grinning and taking another bite of his hotdog, "I'm glad that these things are still around."

"I swear, Corey…" Liz grumbled, rubbing her temples. John took a sip of his coffee. Corey looked up at him.

"Hey, John…I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Hmm?" He asked, looking over at the teenager.

"How'd you become a general here? I mean, I can tell you have skills, but were you and Derek friends before the Rebel group started?"

"Ah." John set down his coffee and folded his hands together, resting them on the round table that they were all sitting at,

"Well, I had joined the Rebel Army soon after it was established. I had been well trained in weapons combat, and hand-to-hand combat, as well, and figured I'd be fairly good at it. Derek seemed to think so, and he made me Colonel.

"It wasn't until a battle broke out that I truly showed my skill, though. Derek and I had gotten stranded on a rock cliff, and about twenty demons were swarming our troops below. Derek had already used his dragon attack three times that day, and was completely drained. I only had twenty bullets left, as it was, and my sniper rifle. The demons were over 200 feet away, but I nailed each and every one of them in the head, taking down them all. That's, at least, how I became a general." He smiled and took another drink of coffee.

"Well…damn, then." Corey said, laughing a bit as he did.

"Feel better about the chain of command now, Corey?" Liz asked, nudging him with her elbow.

"I never said I didn't." Corey replied, finishing off some French fries. At that precise moment, the alarm went off. The three of them jumped to their feet and quickly ran to the command center, where Derek, Jade, and baby Cory were waiting.

"Derek! What's going on?" Corey asked, stopping in front of them.

"We just got word that one of the colonies that we protect is under attack by Darkine's soldiers. It's also said that a Captain might be with them."

"What? Derek, a Captain? There's got to be a mistake! Why would Darkine send a Captain to attack a colony?" Liz asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It has to be a trap." John commented.

Corey agreed. "Yea, dude. This has bad idea written all over it."

"Derek?" Jade asked, looking at her husband. All of them now stared at Derek, who looked in deep thought. After a few moments, he nodded.

"I have to go."

"What?? Derek, you can't!" Corey snapped, stepping towards him, "Let me go! I already called dibs on the next one!"

"Corey…you know perfectly well that there is no way that you can take on a Captain. You are not strong enough." Derek said coldly.

"What was that!? Don't make me kick your ass, you son of a—" but he was cut off by Liz putting a hand on his shoulder. He grumbled and just looked down, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I will go, but not alone. John…get the Special Ops team ready." Derek ordered, and John nodded, rushing out.

"Special Ops?" Corey asked, looking back up.

"The best of the best here," Jade explained, rocking her baby back and forth for him to sleep, "They're used for speed missions. Derek and them should be able to take care of the attack." She smiled, trying to be reassuring, but it wasn't working. Corey could see and hear that she was scared. Derek must have picked up on it, too.

"Jade…" he said, taking her open hand into his own, "I'll be fine. You just wait for me, okay?" he asked, smiling. She nodded, and the two kissed gently on the lips.

Corey stepped forward. "Derek. I'm going with you."

"You can't, Corey." Derek replied, turning to face him.

"But, Derek! I want to—"Corey stopped talking as Derek stared him straight in the eyes.

"I need you to protect Jade for me. Don't let any harm come to her or Cory…okay?" He asked.

Just how he said it, the way he looked at him, all Corey could do was nod.

"All right, pal. I'll stay."

"Thank you. Protect her with your life, my friend."

Corey nodded. "Of course."

******

Corey, Jade, Liz and John all watched as Derek and the fifty Special Op Soldiers ran off. There speeds were extraordinary. They were all cloaked in black.

"I hope there as strong as they are fast." Corey said, frowning and stuffing his hands in his pockets. Jade smiled at him,

"They'll be fine, Corey. Don't worry." She said, putting her hand on the teens shoulder. Corey smiled and nodded,

"Besides, Corey. You got more pressing matters. You and John are in charge while Derek's gone." Liz said with a grin.

"Hey, we'll do fine. Right, John?" Corey asked, grinning as well and patting John on the shoulder. He stopped as he saw that John looked worried, "What's up, man?"

"Something's wrong…I just got a bad feeling." John said quietly. The three of them looked at him.

"John…it'll be fine. We'll take care of the base." Corey said, smiling lightly.

"I know, Corey…I know we will."

******

Three hours had passed since Derek and the team had left. Jade was in her room with Liz and Cory. John was checking in on the backside of the bases. Corey was outside the compound, checking in on the soldiers. He was clothed in black pants and shirt, with his cloak draped over his shoulders. He wore his usual black gloves and boots, but now he had a special vest under his shirt. It worked like his older jacket, but a little more affective and easier to wear. He also had a walky-talky strapped down his belt, next to his sword.

There were three entrances to the Mobile Fortress in which Corey knew about: the front, back and left side. Although the front was the easiest entrance and the back was even smaller then the left, they had to keep constant watch over all of them. He sighed lightly and stopped.

_It's just like I thought… nothing's happening. _

That all changed in a matter of seconds.

Explosions were heard all around the compound, followed shortly after with screams of terror. Corey turned quickly to see if he could find where it was coming from.

"What the hell?!" He yelled, unsheathing his sword. He looked up, and saw thousands of demons swarming down the cliffs and at the base.

_How?!_ Corey thought, eyes wide. _How did they get past the lookouts without me knowing? Shit!!_ He ordered for the troops to get ready, which was slightly redundant, but he had to do something. He swung his sword into ready position and took out his walky-talky.

"John? John, can you here me? Over!" There was static, and then an answer.

"Corey! They're attacking from all sides! Liz is already getting her troops ready, but this is bad!" John yelled through the walky-talky.

"No shit! Just fight!" And he hooked it back up and gripped his blade.

"Aw, man...we should have listened to John's feeling!" And with that last thought, Corey and his soldiers ran right at the attacking demons, ready to fight tooth and limb for the safety of the Rebel Base. Corey only hoped that Derek would return as soon as possible to help out.


	7. Attack on the Rebel Base

_**Chapter 7**_

_Attack on the Rebel Base!_

Corey cut down another demon with the sharp edge of the Tetsaru, blood splattering down onto the ground as he did. Corey, breathing heavily, had already taken down fifty demons on his own, but there were still thousands of them to come.

_How?? How the hell did they get this close without us knowing? _A demon leapt up towards Corey, who quickly cut it at the neck. It clenched its throat and died slowly.

"Damn it!!" Corey swore loudly, charging the energy into his Tetsaru and swinging the blade, blasting a Spirit Slash at a group of Darkine's soldiers.

"General Kartana! General Wolf is in trouble!" Shouted a soldier by the name of Louis. Corey looked at him,

"Damn! We can't take all of these guys down! Louis, head to the control station and see what the hell is taking them so long with the retreat!" Corey ordered, and Louis nodded and ran off. Corey wiped his brow and slashed down another demon warrior.

"Aw, man…what the hell am I gonna do?! Shit!"

******

Liz twirled her daggers diligently in her fingers. She nodded and ran at the next demon, gripping her blades and cutting down the demon. She coughed up a bit of blood, holding her stomach with her left hand. She had been hit with a blunt weapon hard when the attack first occurred. It had caught her off guard, which she was completely ashamed of. Her ribs were crushed due to the attack, but she was holding her own.

"Defense Division!" She yelled, looking at her second in command, a woman named Ellen, who carried a broadsword in both her hands. "What's the situation?"

"General Rain! General's Kartana and Wolf are both holding their sides, but General Wolf seems to be having a difficult time. It would seem that most of Darkine's troops are over there!" She informed, and went back to fighting.

Liz frowned. _Why would they be attacking John's side? It's obvious that this is the weakest point…but why? What could they…_ She stopped herself in mid-thought.

"Oh God." She went to reach for her walky-talky, but a demon came out of nowhere and punched it out of her hand. She glared and gave the beast a mighty kick to the side of the head, decapitating it.

"Damn it!" She yelled, and turned to Ellen, "Hold this spot, Ellen! I have to go talk to Corey and John!" And without a second word, Liz ran towards the front entrance, leaving Ellen standing there, confused,

"General Rain…what's going on?" She wondered aloud, before having to defend herself as another demon swarm attacked.

******

Derek ran swiftly through the open fields as he watched the colony burn to the ground. He gripped his katana and grit his teeth.

"Soldiers! Keep moving! We have to put out that fire!" he ordered, his men following closely after him.

It didn't make sense. Why was this happening here? This colony was of no use to Darkine…so what could possibly be his plan? The thoughts just kept swarming Derek as he ran to the burning colony. He slid to a stop at the structure's entrance and looked around. Derek's eyes widened as he sniffed the air. The retched smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils. Nothing had been left standing in the area. Houses were burnt down, and the colonies HQ was in rubble. The worst part was…there was no one in sight.

"Where is everyone?" asked a soldier.

"I'm not sure…" Commented another.

Derek raised his hand for them for silence. "Search for survivors. Meet back here ASAP."

The soldiers all nodded and went off searching. The colony wasn't that large, and Derek knew that deep down all was lost. He looked down at the ground and found a toy sword, obviously belonging to a child. He reached down and picked it up with his left hand, his real katana still in his right.

"Who the hell does this?" Derek asked aloud, although knowing only to well who was in charge of the operation.

_Still, though, why? What was the point in attacking this place?_

A powerful blow to his back, which sent the general tumbling about ten feet in the opposite direction, interrupted his thought. Quickly regaining the control of his body, Derek stood and tossed the toy sword to the ground, clenching the hilt of his katana with both hands, glaring at his attacker. His eyes widened.

It was a Captain, draped in the same armor as Gebu had, except this one had a large pole-arm with and axe for the tip. He pointed the edged weapon directly at Derek.

"General Maison…we were hoping you'd come looking for us." Shouted the Captain, "My name is Jacks. It's an honor to meet you."

Derek grit his teeth. "I don't have time for formalities, Jacks! Now tell me…what was the point in attacking this place?! They served no threat to Darkine, so why?!" Derek was furious at the sight of this demon.

Jacks laughed. "Not so fast, General. Don't you want to say hello to my friends? I know they've already met some of yours!"

Possibly two hundred demon soldiers leapt from the rubble of the colony, catching most of Derek's men off guard. All hell broke loose as the two armies began to battle each other. One of the demons tried to attack Derek, but he merely cut him down with one strike. He couldn't help but notice the smell of flesh on his breath.

"You…monster!!" Derek screamed as he charged Jacks, the Black Dragon Sword already activated and flaring black fire around the katana.

******

Liz fought swiftly through a flank of demon soldiers, trying to make it to Corey. She knew she'd need his help with this, and with no way of contacting him, she knew she'd have to battle her way towards him. She almost stopped when she saw a mass blast of spiritual energy just on the other side of the giant base of the Mobile Fortress. She allowed a sigh of relief to escape her lips, before going further towards him.

_Come on…_

******

"Take this! And that! Keep on coming, you bastards!!" Corey screamed as he slashed at the demons that were attacking. Two hundred and sixty-two. That was the number of Darkine's soldiers that Corey had already taken down, and they seemed to be slowing.

"Come on! We almost got them!" Corey yelled, rallying his troops. They all cheered and continued their fight. Just when Corey thought he might just have what it takes to keep the base safe, Liz arrived to him.

"Corey!" He heard her yell. After decapitating a demon soldier, he looked over at her.

"Liz!? What the hell are you doing here? What about your side—"

She cut him off. "It's Jade! The whole reason were under attack is because Darkine wants to kill Jade while she's weakened! She's on John's side! Corey we have to—"

It was Corey's turn to cut her off. "Watch my side!! You're in charge!" He bellowed, turning and running off towards John's side.

"Be careful, Corey!!" Liz screamed back at him, before continuing Corey's fight.

******

John wiped a bit of blood off of his chin, and gripped his right rib. He had lost his left Hook Sword, and was holding one of the spiritually charged handguns, gripping the other blade with his right hand. It seemed like no end to the battle. The demons just kept coming.

_Damn it, all…what now?_ He asked himself. He had already lost nearly a fifth of his troops, and the rest were getting tired. He shot down another three demons that were pressing forward.

"John!!!" Came the voice of Corey from the side of him. He glanced over, and sure enough it was him, a panicked look on his face.

"C-Corey?! What is it?? What's happened?" John asked, not liking the look of terror on Corey's face.

"It's Jade! They're going to attack—whaa!!!" Just as Corey had almost made it over to John, a blast of demonic energy shattered the ground, sending the young man into the Rebel Base's wall, giving it a large crack. Corey quickly recovered and stood next to John and looked for his attacker. Both he and John's jaws nearly fell.

There, before them, was a Captain. He held a bastard sword in just one hand, his red cape blowing in the snowy wind.

"Oh, shit…" Corey said, gripping the hilt of the Tetsaru with both hands. John held the Hook Sword in his right, and the handgun in his left, the gun aimed at the Captain.

"Corey…this is bad…" John said.

"Yea…no kidding…" Corey agreed. The Captain soon began to laugh maniacally, "What's so funny??" Corey yelled at him.

"So…you two are Corey Kartana and John Wolf. It's truly a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ryu… Captain Ryu."

"The pleasure is all ours, pal!!" Corey roared, swinging a fully charged Spirit Slash right at the Captain, who merely stood there as the blast seemingly went right through him, "What?!?!"

Ryu laughed. "Fool. Such an attack will not work on me…hmm?" Corey was running directly at Ryu, baring his teeth like a wild animal. Ryu swung his sword at Corey, who leapt into the air to dodge. He held out his right index finger.

"Spirit Gun!!" he screamed, blasting the creature with a point blank attack.

"Ack!" Yelled Ryu, covering his face with his armored arm when the attack occurred. Corey landed on the ground, his hand giving him balance as it touched the snowy field.

"How's that for an attack?" He asked, grinning. Through the smoke's blast, stepped Ryu, unharmed except for his helmet was now destroyed, but he himself was fine.

The Captain had short blue hair, and tribal like markings on his face. His red eyes glared at Corey.

"That…was a mistake." He growled, kicking Corey hard in the chest. Corey barely had enough time to hold up his left arm to block it, but it didn't do much good. The young man heard a crack in his arm as the kick made contact, and it sent him into the air. The young man landed with a thud beside John, who helped him up. Corey was breathing heavily.

"John…this guy is tough…"

John smiled grimly. "We've been through this, Corey…"

"Hey…I got an idea. It's stupid…but we don't have a lot of time…" Corey stood himself up, leaning against his blade for support.

John blinked. "What?"

"Follow my lead."

******

"Die, bastard!!" Screamed a battle worn Derek, colliding swords with the Captain once again.

They locked, and held their ground, demonic energy bursting from both warriors. Slashes and thrusts were what followed, each fighter going so fast that no ordinary person would be able to even tell where the other was headed. Each fighter had taken damage, and they were nearly equal when it came to energy, but Derek had one thing on his mind: getting back to his wife and son.

"I'm ending this now, Jacks!!" Derek roared, gripping his katana with his right hand and extending his left.

Out of his arm produced a black dragon arm, black flames and all. Grinning darkly, Derek made one last thrust with his blade, which Jacks blocked, but Derek had the advantage now. He winded back, and then threw his dragon arm directly at Jacks' armor, shattering it.

"Release!!" All at one, the black dragon escaped Derek, and went plowing through Jacks' chest, going through the other side and vanishing. Jacks, eyes wide, fell to his knees.

"It's over, Jacks…" Derek said, breathing heavily and stopping the flow of the Black Dragon through his katana, but to Derek's amazement, Jacks began to laugh…

******

"You're mad!" John yelled, after Corey had explained the plan.

"So?" Corey said, smirking, "It's all we got." The two readied their weapons, breathing hard.

"Fine. Ready?" John asked, glancing at Corey.

"Yup. Don't go getting killed."

"You either."

And they both took off running towards the Captain. Corey, ran towards his right, and John to the left.

"A side attack? I was hoping you'd be more original then that, boys." Ryu commented, swishing his sword in the air and readying himself for the attack.

"Shut up!" Corey yelled, glancing at John who was now just a little bit ahead of him. John ran straight up to Ryu, and held up his handgun and fired a spirit bullet right at him. Ryu had his full attention on John now.

"That's it? Ha!" Ryu laughed and was about to take the full blow of the gun, until he noticed a mass amount of energy coming at him from behind. He turned to see a fully charged Spirit Gun coming right at him.

"What?!" Ryu gasped, as John's bullet nailed him in the back of the head, knocking him off balance to a point where he couldn't get out of the way of Corey's attack. The spirit energy shot Ryu in the head and chest, destroying his armor and causing the Captain to get knocked back, his neck exposed.

"Now, John!" Corey shouted, rushing towards Ryu. John, who was now behind Ryu, brought up his Hook blade around Ryu's neck, and pulled back, just as Corey brought the Tetsaru pummeling right through his chest. Blood splattered to the ground as Ryu fell, dead before he touched the ground.

******

"What the hell is so funny?" Demanded Derek, holding katana to Jacks' neck, who was still laughing.

"Heh heh heh… you'll see. Richard!!!" He screamed. Derek's eyes widened. At once, from out of the blue, came another armored warrior, wielding a Trident.

Derek's eyes widened.

"A-another Captain?!" Derek said in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. He hardly had enough energy to fight one captain, let alone a second.

"Well, Jacks, it seems you really got your ass handed to you." Commented Richard. Derek growled as Jacks continued to laugh, before Derek plowed his katana into his neck, dispatching him. Now it was Richard's turn to laugh,

"A little angry, Maison? I wouldn't doubt it. You played right into Lord Darkine's trap." He laughed louder, as one hundred soldiers appeared from the same direction that Richard had, attacking the remaining Special Ops soldiers. The soldiers, who were already weakened from the first attack, were already getting over run.

"No!" Derek yelled, standing up and gripping his katana wearily, "I'll…kill you…"

******

"We did it, Corey! We beat a Captain!" John said, smiling lightly and clutching his Hook Blade as a brace and looking down at Ryu's body.

"Yea…" Corey said, but then his eyes widened. "Wait. Oh my God! Jade!" and he took off running into the base, leaving John yelling at him about what was happening.

Darkine's soldiers had already penetrated the base's defenses. Corey now had to battle his way towards his best friend's wife and child.

_Damn it, Jade! Stay alive! Please!!_


	8. Sorrow

_**Chapter 8**_

_Sorrow_

"Get the hell outa my way!!" Screamed Corey as he hacked his way through the attacking demons. They had gotten so far into the Rebel Base, he didn't know where they began and ended. All Corey knew was that he had to get to Jade before an enemy did.

_Jade's hardly a B-class right now! There's no way she could take on a whole hoard of demons! Damn it! Damn it all!_ His eyes flared as he saw a large pack of demons surrounding themselves around the hallway towards Jade's room.

"Beat it, jerks!" Corey yelled, swinging the Tetsaru down towards the ground, the shockwave from the Spirit Slash ripping through the ground and the demons, leaving nothing but flesh and blood on the ground. Corey continued forward.

_This is taking to long! Goddammit! _A demon leapt out of another hallway, latching its claws onto Corey's right shoulder. The young man cried out in pain, before beating the demon over the head with his fist, then stabbing it through the back when it fell to the ground. Fresh blood flowed out of Corey's shoulder, but he kept going forward.

"Almost there…" Corey said quietly, moving forward.

******

Derek watched as his soldiers fell one by one, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He was in tangled with Richard, and could do nothing to help his troops. The trident wielding captain thrusted his weapon towards Derek, who could barely even stand at this point in time.

_Two captains! Two! How the hell could this have happened? I don't think I even have enough energy to use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame…. guess I'll have to use this again…_

Derek's katana lit up with a blaze of black fire, along with his right arm and shoulder. He prepared himself for Richard's next attack, but to his surprise the demon captain merely smiled.

"What're you smirking at?" Demanded Derek, who was in no mood for games.

"Nothing…nothing…it's just, I'm surprised you haven't tried to get back to your base yet." Richard said, allowing his trident to circulate demonic energy.

"What do you mean? I never run from a fight." Derek shot back, running right at Richard and clashing weapons with him. The Black Dragon Blade was hardly keeping up. The general had lost too much blood and energy in his fight with Jacks.

"I know you don't, Maison…but does that hold true when your family and friends are all dying?"

The words caught Derek off guard, allowing Richard to bring his foot up and kick Derek hard in the stomach, sending him flying into ground, blood spewing out of his mouth. His eyes were wide as he watched Richard move towards him,

"What…what are you talking about?" Derek asked, stumbling for words.

Richard laughed. "I am amazed…don't you get it, General Maison? This whole thing was a ploy by Lord Darkine. He knew you'd come running to help out one of your precious colonies, leaving your base to be guarded by Corey Kartana and your other generals."

Vanishing into thin air, Derek's eyes widened as Richard reappeared next to him, kicking him in the ribs, breaking every one on his right side. Derek screamed in pain and rolled a few feet away, dropping his katana as he did. The Black Dragon Blade and arm vanished, leaving the man defenseless.

Richard grinned. "Of course…we're not after them. We are after your lovely bride…General Jade Maison." Derek's face went white with fear.

_Jade?_ He thought to himself as Richard gave him another kick, but this time directly to the face, blood pouring out of his nose and mouth. Richard grinned and grabbed Derek by the collar of his shirt and repeatedly punched him, but Derek was in too much shock to do anything.

_Jade…no…not Jade…_

******

Corey could almost see the room in which Jade had been residing in. At least, he would have been able to if there weren't thirty demons in his way.

_I've used up damn near all of my spirit energy…I can't use the Spirit Slash anymore… guess I gotta do it the old fashion way…_

Gripping his blade in both hands, both it and Corey a bloody mess, the young man ran right into the demon hoard, slashing and hacking away.

_Jade…please be okay…I couldn't handle…_ He couldn't even finish his thought. Nineteen demons had already fallen in such a short amount of time of Corey's attacks, but it just didn't seem quick enough.

"Fuck you, bastards!!!" He screamed and continued his onslaught, until finally he reached her room, and his eyes widened.

The door had been broken down already.

_Oh my God…_ Corey ran into the room and looked around.

The first thing he heard was Cory crying, so he followed the sound of the infant. It was coming from Jade and Derek's bedroom. That door had been destroyed as well and he could see inside.

******

Derek suddenly felt it. Something had happened…something terrible. His body began to feel cold: both on the outside and inside. As Richard continued his pummels on the general, Derek began to have flashbacks of the days that he and Jade first met, and when they were wed, and the day Cory came into their lives.

_Why…why am I remembering all of this now? Jade? Did…did something happen?_

Richard threw Derek onto the ground and held his trident out.

"Well, General Maison, I'm sure you'll get to see you wife in the Spirit World! Die!" He thrusted the spear towards Derek's chest, but to the Captain's surprise, Derek held up his right arm and stopped the weapon from coming any closer. His arm flared with black fire, as did his left arm, all the way up to his shoulders.

"What? What on Earth?" Richard stammered, baffled that Derek even had the strength to stand…then he saw Derek's eyes.

They had turned blood red, like the eyes of the Black Dragon. Without a word of warning, Derek unleashed the Dragon of the Darkness Flame out of both of his arms. The dragon roared and rammed itself into Richard and flew off, leaving nothing but a few strips of armor that had been spared.

Richard's troops, which had utterly annihilated the Special Ops team, cried out in fear as the Black Dragon mercilessly destroyed every last one of them, until none remained. The dragon flew back to Derek and absorbed into him, but the black fire did not leave Derek's body.

The general turned towards the way he had come, and in a blaze of fire took off back to the Rebel Base, fearing for his wife and son…not knowing what had truly befallen either of them…but something told him, deep inside, that the worst had occurred.

******

Corey's heart stopped.

"Nooooo!!!" He screamed in vain.

Corey watched helplessly, as a demon Co-Captain plowed a sword right through Jade's chest. The demon looked over at Corey and grinned, withdrawing the sword that was now soaked in Jade's blood. She fell to her knees.

"Jade!!!" Corey cried, running into the room and grabbing Jade before she hit the ground.

The Co-Captain laughed. "Oh, this is great! I killed the terrible General Jade! Now Captain Lee will give me my promotion and…eh?" He looked over to Corey, who had laid Jade down and stood up.

His eyes were red from choked back tears. He gripped his blade in his hand. He didn't even utter a word as he slashed horizontally downward, cutting the Co-Captain in half, blood spewing onto the ground as the demon dropped dead in pieces. Corey dropped his sword and ran back to Jade, lifting her into his arms.

"Jade! Jade come on Jade! Talk to me! Please!" Corey begged, tears rolling down his eyes. Jade winced and opened her eyes, blood trickling down her lip. A light smile appeared on her face.

"Corey…" she uttered, her words hardly audible, "Heh…that's the first time you've ever said my name." Corey half laughed, half cried,

"Yea…and I'll never call you Thief again, just please…_please_ hold on!" Corey cried, hot tears still streaming down his cheeks.

Jade continued to smile and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Corey…but you and I both know that I'm dying…"

"No!" Corey yelled, resting Jade's head in his lap and trying to gather spiritual energy, trying in vane to conjure some up to heal her, but none came, "Damn it!"

"Corey…" Jade said softly, touching his hands with her own bloody ones, "Thank you for trying, but you don't have any spirit energy left. I can tell…" she began to cough hard, blood spurting out with each cough.

"Jade…please…what about Derek? What about your son? They…we can't…" He got choked up in his own words and hung his head down.

Jade felt his tears fall onto her forehead. She merely smiled and touched his face with the palm of her hand.

"Corey… you have to be strong… please… take care of Cory and Derek… tell them both… that… I love… them…"

And her hand fell limp to the floor.

"Jade?" Corey asked, shaking with terror, "Jade…come on…please! Jade! Jade! Jade!!!!"

But there was no answer. Fresh tears began to pour down Corey's face as he gently lifted her up in his arms and carried her to her bed, resting her down.

Corey just stared in disbelief. He had lost comrades before, and the loss of his mother and father was terrible, but he had never seen the loss of a loved one before his eyes. He sat down in a nearby chair, right next to the bed and put his palms over his face, looking through his fingers to the ground.

_Jade…why? Why are you gone? Why did it have to be like this? I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…please forgive me…_

******

Derek arrived to a war zone. The Rebel Base had obviously been attacked. Teams were putting out fires and taking away bodies of both humans and demons. The black fire around him dispatched, and he walked forward. A soldier came running up to him.

"General Maison! Where are the Special Ops? Have you heard what happened? Sir? Sir!"

Derek completely ignored him as he hurried through the chaos and towards his and Jade's quarters. He could no longer sense Jade's demonic energy. He quickly climbed the stairs and stormed into the room, where John and Liz were waiting, both stained with blood. Liz held Cory in her arms, cradling the sleeping child. It relieved Derek somewhat to see him safe.

"Derek…" Liz said her face stained with tears.

"Where's Jade?" he asked, looking around. "Jade!?"

"Derek…" John said, walking over to him and putting his hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry…"

"Damn it, answer me, John! Where's Jade?!" He demanded, and John looked towards the entry way to their bedroom, the door still busted down.

Derek slowly walked in. He saw Corey there, holding his hands to his face, his body shaking every so often. He looked up and noticed Derek,

"Derek…I…I'm so sorry…" he said, choking back tears. Derek then looked to the bed and saw his wife, lying there soaked in blood. She wasn't moving.

"Oh my God…" Derek stuttered out, walking towards the bed and leaning over Jade's body. He gently touched her cheek with his palm, holding back tears of his own.

"Jade…please…please you can't. You can't be…" He couldn't find the words. He then looked to Corey, who had stood up, weak kneed.

Corey didn't say anything. He just stood there, looking at the floor, until Derek's fist punched him across the cheek and through the doorway. Liz screamed.

"Derek!" John gasped, trying to help Corey up, but Corey pushed him away.

"Stop, John…" Corey said quietly as Derek moved towards him, punching him back and forth in the face.

"Corey! You swore! You swore you'd protect her!!" Derek cried out, "You said you'd protect her with your life!!"

"I know…" Corey said, Derek resting his fist, "I'm sorry. We were attacked…I…I have no excuse…" with one final punch Corey fell to the floor, John rushing over to help him sit up.

Derek turned and took one last look at his wife and went to the window.

"Derek! Where are you going!?" Liz asked. Derek didn't answer. Suddenly, the black flames of the dragon erupted around Derek, and he blasted away through the window, leaving John and Liz to help Corey.

"Corey…what now?" John asked, although he knew he wouldn't get an answer.

Corey merely sat there, staring off in disbelief. John helped him up and helped him towards the medical room, where he needed quick recovery. Corey had lost a lot of blood and broken a few bones, but that didn't matter to him. One thought kept running through his mind…

_I…failed…_


	9. The Pain of Loss

_**Chapter 9**_

_Pain of Loss_

One week had gone by since the night of the attack. Everyone in the Rebel Base mourned for the loss of Jade. All over the remaining bases men, woman, and children prepared for Jade's funeral. Unfortunately, two people who should be there were not: Derek and Corey.

Derek had not returned since the night of Jade's slaying, and Corey had set off the next day for parts unknown. When Liz tried to stop him, all he did was look at her. His eyes were filled with much sorrow and defeat.

"I failed…I have to go away for a while…" and he took off, leaving John and Liz in charge of the rebel army.

Liz took baby Cory in so that she could watch over him. The young infant must have sensed something was the matter, because it never cried. It just would always look up at Liz with saddened eyes, which always made Liz want to cry for the babe.

With the loss of the Special Ops team, and their leader going MIA, the entire Rebel Base had to move, which meant postponing Jade's funeral. It takes an entire day to get everything properly ready in order to move the five massive fortresses. It also didn't help with Liz having the urge to watch over Cory, feeling responsible for the infant's safety. This left John in charge of nearly the entire process.

The group finally made it to a safe region, a grassy land in which they planned on burying Jade at. The funeral was to take place the next afternoon, but there were still no signs of Corey or Derek.

"Christ…" John said quietly, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "What the hell are Corey and Derek doing? They both left in separate directions. I guess I can understand them not being able to be here…but they have to make it to the funeral, right?" He asked no one but himself.

He was alone in the Operations Room, drinking a cup of coffee. After being up for twenty hours straight, he needed something to keep him up.

"John?" came the voice of Liz as before she entered the room. John looked up and saw her walk in, carrying a sleeping baby in her arms, "Are you alright?"

John sighed. "I wish I could say that I was. It's been a hard last couple of days…but at least we're finally in a safe spot…for now."

"Do you think that Corey and Derek are going to make it back by tomorrow?" Liz asked, sitting down in a chair near John.

"I don't know…" John said with another light sigh, "Honestly it's extremely hard to tell. Both are taking Jade's death very hard, which is understandable. It was Derek's wife, and Corey feels like he failed both Jade and Derek. Poor kid…"

Liz smiled lightly. "Yes, but I've known Corey nearly all his life…really feels weird saying that." She chuckled, "But I know he'll bounce back. Both Corey and Derek have a duty to this world, whether they want to or not. They're the only ones who can defeat Darkine."

"Guu…" came the gurgle of the baby. He giggled a little and Liz blinked, then sighed lightly but still smiled,

"I know that face." She said, gently poking his nose. She looked up at John. "I'll talk to you later, John." And she exited the room.

John took another sip of his coffee and stood up, pacing around the table. He stopped and looked towards the door.

"Derek…Corey…where are you guys?"

******

The day of the funeral came, and every single person in the Rebel Base, minus some guards, attended. Crying could be heard at the loss of the female general…but still no Corey or Derek.

John was given the duty to speak at the ceremony, since the two were not back yet. He stood upon a podium, right over the casket where Jade was laid to rest. He looked out at all the people, who were staring right at him. He took a deep breath, and smiled lightly.

"Jade Maison… mother… wife… friend… and general. She was a very good friend of mine, and to everyone in the Rebel Army. She leaves behind family and friends. She did everything that was needed to be done for the army, and fought bravely until the very end. And I know she would not want us to weep for her. She would want us to get up and continue our fight against Darkine, and we will do just that!"

A loud cheer from the crowd was heard, followed by applause. John let out a slow sigh of relief, glad that it was over. He stepped down from the podium and the people began to walk forward, each holding a flower in their hand. Jade's casket began to lower into a deep hole. To John, it seemed like a hole to the great beyond.

Once the casket hit the bottom, the people of the Rebel Army began to drop the flowers into the hole and on the casket.

John dropped his own flower, letting it fall to the casket top and then he walked away. He couldn't stay here any longer. He walked past the podium, and to his great surprise and slight relief…was Corey.

He stood there, staring off in the opposite direction, draped in the same clothes he had on from the battle. Blood stained the shirt and pants.

"Corey…" John said, walking over to the man. Corey turned and smiled lightly at him,

"Hey, John." He replied, "Nice speech."

"Thanks…but where've you been, Corey? We were worried!" John stood beside the man, taking a seat on the grass. Corey followed in suit.

"Just around… I've been gathering information." Corey rested his arm on his knee as it bent up.

"On?" John asked, looking over to him.

"Jade's killer…or rather, the man who sent the assassin to kill her. It's a Captain, by the name of Lee."

John gasped. "Captain Lee? Corey, he's one of the strongest of the Captains! He's in the Elite Three!"

The Elite Three were well known through out the Captains. They each had their own keep, although only Lee stayed in his. One other was guarding Darkine's Tower, and the other was at Spirit World. Each had power far greater then any other Captain.

"I know… I've heard the rumors on them, but if Lee is the one who killed Jade, I have to find Derek and tell him. It's the least I can do…"

"I'm afraid Derek isn't here, Corey…but are you sure it's a good idea to tell him? I mean we don't know what he will do. He could end up killing himself in the process."

Corey smiled lightly. "I doubt he'll go that far. Besides…I didn't come here to find Derek. I know exactly where he is. I just came here to pay my respects."

John blinked at him, "You know where Derek is? Where?"

"He's around…watching the funeral from afar." Corey stood up and stretched his arms towards the sky. "I'm going to change, and then go get Derek, and then Lee. Can you keep the base in control while we're gone?"

"Uhh…sure, Corey. I can do that, but shouldn't you take some soldiers with you?" he asked hesitantly, but Corey shook his head,

"No…this is something Derek and I gotta do. Heh…although I doubt Derek will want me to help, but there really isn't a chance he can do this on his own. Later, John." And with a little wave, he took off back to the base, leaving John standing there, watching him go.

"I believe in you, Corey…but I got a really bad feeling about this."

******

Derek stood silently, watching the people of the army place flowers in Jade's grave. He, too, wore the same clothes that he had in his battle with the two Captains. A look of sorrow was on his face as Corey approached him.

"Derek…" Corey said, taking a seat next to him.

Derek didn't move or respond. He was lost in the thoughts of his departed wife.

"Derek. I have to talk to you about something…I've found out who sent the assassin." He tried again. This time, Derek looked at him.

"Who?" Derek asked, his voice sounding dark and raspy. It was different from his normal voice.

"It was Captain Lee, of the Elite Three." Corey informed him, and without missing a beat Derek stood up, "Hold on! You can't go alone!"

"Why not?" Derek asked, looking at Corey as he rose, "This is my battle to fight, not yours."

"That doesn't matter. Lee is one of the strongest demons out there, and he's going to have a whole army there waiting for you. I'm going with you." Corey arose now.

Derek glared at him. "Why do you want to go?"

"Because…" Corey said, looking to the ground, "I failed to protect her. This is the least I can do, making sure that you make it there alive." Derek watched him for a second, then let out a small sigh,

"Fine…but Lee is mine. You can help take out the soldiers. Let's go." Derek started to move again, but Corey stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder. Derek turned to him and gave his friend a dark glare.

Corey frowned. "We can't leave today, man…at least rest for a little while." Derek paused and considered it, then nodded slowly.

"Fine. Meet me here at daybreak, and not a moment later. If you're not here, I'm leaving."

"Hold on! Why not come back to the base with me? Come see Liz and John…and your son." Corey requested, but then saw the look of pain on Derek's face.

The general turned away from Corey.

"I can't go back, Corey…not yet. Meet me here tomorrow." And with that he walked off, leaving Corey standing there alone. The young man sighed, and turned and walked off back to the base.

******

"You're going after Captain Lee? By yourselves??" Liz shouted, slamming her hands down the table in the Command Center. It was Corey, John, and Liz in the room, and it was just about thirty minutes until daybreak. On the table was a layout of the Captain's tower, and the list of soldiers around and in it. The number worried all three of them.

"Sorry, Liz…but it's just like I told John. Derek would not let anyone else come. I barely got him to let me go along. He's set determined to do this on his own, without help from anyone." Corey idly sipped down a cup of coffee, staring down at the map.

"Corey…how is Derek?" John asked quietly, looking from the map to Corey, who didn't look back.

"I don't know, John… he's definitely different, that's for sure. I don't know what is going on in his head." He paused for a moment and took another sip, "I'm afraid he might do something…stupid."

"You don't think he's going to fight Lee to the death, do you?" Liz asked, staring at her childhood friend, "I mean…what if Derek, well…you know…"

Corey frowned. "I don't want to think about that right now…but if it does happen, we cross that road when we get there. That's all we really can do at this point." He finished the last bit of his coffee and set it on the table.

He walked across the room and sheathed Tetsaru, which was leaned against the wall.

"Are you going?" John asked.

Corey nodded. "Yea…it's just about daybreak, and I'm pretty sure Derek wasn't kidding when he said he'd leave me behind." He patted the hilt of his blade and looked at his two friends,

"Don't worry. I'll be back. You guys just hold down the fort while I'm gone. See ya." And without another word he turned, gave them a slight wave, and then walked out of the room.

******

"Are you ready?" Derek asked as Corey approached. The demon didn't even turn to face Corey as he stood by him.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with." Corey said, shoving his hands in his pockets, "It's about a day's run to Lee's Tower."

"That's fine. Let's go." And with that, the two took off to the west, Derek slightly ahead the entire time. Corey felt a tingle the back of his neck, which made him worry even more.

_Once again I have to agree with John…nothing good can come out of all of this…but I have to try and help Derek as much as I can. For his, and his son's, sake…_


	10. The Captain's Tower

**Chapter 10**

The Captain's Tower

All day and part of the night Corey and Derek ran through the plains of the world: through forests and marshes, through meadows and past rivers. But through out the entire trip, neither spoke a word to each other. Each was lost in his own though as they raced to confront the one who murdered Jade.

Corey was lost in his thoughts of failing his best friend and his wife. He couldn't bear to see his friend like this, and could no longer read his expressions. Derek seemed to have slipped into his own state of mind, his own world, and there was no looking into it.

There was no moon this night, and the stars were the only small source of light that there was to be held. Corey knew Derek could easily see, but Corey was still only human. He'd have to rely on his senses to help him if there was a battle.

"We're close!" Corey announced as they ran towards a dark forest. It was the surrounding barrier of Lee's Tower, but the trees towered over all and the tower could not be seen,

"Be careful! Lee has this place maxed out with guards!"

"Bring them all on…I'll incinerate them all." Derek said, in a low voice. The voice caught Corey off guard, but he did not stop his run. They entered the forest through its entrance, and no sooner had they entered the forested area that Corey noticed something.

It was dark. Not just dark, but black dark. It wasn't a normal kind of dark, like when one entered a room with no lights on or no windows, but a dark that made your spine tingle.

_I don't like this…_ Corey thought to himself as they ran through the woods. _Shit!!_ His spiritual awareness saved him, as a swing of a spiked club nearly split him into pieces. Corey jumped into the air and used his senses.

They were surrounded. At least two hundred demons, all ranked in the B or A-Class. Both Corey and Derek stopped and armed themselves with their weapons.

"Here they come!" Corey shouted as the demons launched themselves onto the warriors. Before Corey could even attack, Derek held out his arm. The black flame of the dragon was immerging around his arms and legs. Even a flaming black tail emerged from Derek's tailbone. He had truly become the dragon.

"Stand back, Corey…I'll take them all on!" Derek said coolly, his eyes red with fire, and as the first demons tried to attack him, a swipe of his hand and the beast was in flames.

Corey's eyes widened at the strength of the attack, but he couldn't gawk for long. Even though Derek had said he was going to take them all, there were still the ones that were behind them. Derek's tail flicked sparks as he rushed the up coming demons, slashing at them with fiery claws and katana. Corey, his Tetsaru flaring with spiritual energy, hacked away at the demons as well, but it was easy to tell Derek had the advantage over all of them.

It only took five minutes to destroy every demon on sight. Derek closed his eyes and the black flames disappeared from around him, and he looked at Corey…his eyes were still red.

"Let's keep going." Derek said, his voice still in a growl, and he ventured onward, Corey following close behind him.

_Derek…what the hell has happened to you? Where did you get all that power?? _The thought just kept repeating in Corey's mind. He wanted to ask, but was almost afraid to. For now, he merely kept running.

******

"That's it…" Corey said, standing next to Derek, his sword drawn. Lee's Tower was huge…at least one hundred feet up. Demons hoarded themselves around the tower, all even stronger then the ones in the forest. It was amazing how the trees could cover it, but Corey did feel a strange energy roaming around the woods.

"A camouflage spell…" Derek said calmly, "All of the Elite Three have one over their towers. Darkine has one, too, which is why I haven't gone to fight him yet…" Corey looked at him and nodded slowly,

"So…what now? Shouldn't we have some kind of plan?" Corey asked, glancing over at Derek.

Derek scoffed. "We don't need one…not with this vermin." And as he said the words, the black flames reappeared around him.

They seemed even stronger then ever, and Corey couldn't help but notice the grin on Derek's face.

"Derek…" Corey tried to say something, but Derek held up his hand,

"Shut up, Corey…" Derek growled, "Let's go." And he took off in a sprint towards the tower, Corey following closely after.

All the demons looked up as they saw Derek run towards them. They each grabbed a weapon or powered up their own demonic energies, but Derek's power was far greater than theirs. He plowed down five by just running past them, and he slid to a stop. Twenty of them leapt and tackled him down, but in a blaze of black fire they all were incinerated, ashes falling to the ground as Derek stood back up.

"What are you standing around for, Corey? If you want to help, then kill them. Kill all of them!" Derek roared, dispatching another demon with his fire claws.

Corey has been standing there, watching his best friend destroy the demons mercilessly.

_Has he truly lost it? I only hope that killing Lee will bring him back…_

He shook off the thought and slashed down a demon that had thought it smarter to attack Corey instead of Derek. He was wrong, as blood spewed to the ground.

Demon after demon swarmed around the two warriors, but neither seemed to be getting any damage done to them. Corey was feeling slightly fatigued, but with Derek dealing out most of the attacks, it allowed him to regain his strength.

Finally, after about an hour of straight fighting, the demons ceased to come. Panting softly, Corey looked over at Derek, who continued to uphold the Black Dragon's flames.

"Don't you want to conserve your energy, Derek?" Corey asked, but his answer was a mere laugh.

"Don't be dumb…I can't allow myself to power down quite yet…not when Lee is so close…" and he walked towards the entrance of the tower. Corey wanted to kick the living shit out of him at this point.

_What the hell is the matter with him?!_

******

"Whaaaaaaaaa!!!" Cried the young infant Cory from his crib. Liz blinked and walked over to the baby and lifted him up. His entire body felt like it was on fire.

"What is it, Cory? Is something wrong? Are you just hungry?" Liz asked, but the demonic baby kept crying. Liz couldn't help but feel a drop in her heart.

_Something's happened to the boys… Corey… Derek… what's going on?_ She closed her eyes and cradled the young child in her arms, praying that Corey and Derek were safe.

******

Arthur suddenly gasped, following to a knee and holding his chest. There was a sudden attack to it. Not a heart attack or anything along those lines, but a just a feeling.

The old man knew something was wrong with one of the two warriors, Corey and Derek, but he couldn't figure out what. There was darkness that he felt…a darkness that was trying to consume one of them.

_Corey Kartana…Derek Maison…whom ever is being attacked by this plague, you must hold on. It is you two, and you two alone, who can defeat Darkine. If one of you falls to darkness now…I'm afraid that the entire world is doomed…_

******

Corey and Derek climbed the seemingly never-ending staircase that was Darkine's tower.

"There's something wrong here, Derek…" Corey said, after running a near twenty minutes up the stairs, "There's no way that it's taking us this long!"

With no windows, it was hard to tell how far it was taking them up.

"Yes…there's another camouflage spell…but this one is trying to confuse us to where we are going…" he stopped abruptly and turned to Corey, "Stand back."

Corey leaned himself against the wall, and with his black dragon claw, slashed at the stone wall. The wall, instead of collapsing, seemed to be short-circuiting, and with a bit of a blast of smoke, stopped.

Derek grinned again, the dark looking grin that he had before, "It seems Lee is trying to trick us." And he continued his running once again. Corey sighed quietly, but then his eyes widened.

His heart began to hurt, but only for a second. He touched his chest with his hand and looked up the spiraling staircase.

"This is bad…" He said quietly.

"Corey! Hurry up!" Derek yelled from a few stories up. Corey nodded to himself and continued upward.

******

"John…" Liz said quietly, walking into the Command Center where John hadn't left since Corey and Derek left. John looked up to see Liz carrying Cory, whom was still crying.

"Hey, what's wrong with him?" John asked, confused as to why the baby was crying.

"I don't know…but I got a weird feeling…" She said softly, handing the burning baby to John.

"You, too?" John asked, rocking the child back and forth as Liz rested in a chair, "Corey and Derek are in trouble. Not with Lee…but with something inside them. One of them, at least…"

Liz didn't need to be told which one it was. "Derek…"

John nodded. "Yea…but I don't know what will come of it. I hope that it vanishes after he fights Lee. Well, actually I hope that those two can defeat him…"

******

"Lee!!!" Shouted Derek as the two fighters entered the top of the tower. The top was simple enough…stone floor and wall, a few cut out windows around the outside of it, and a man sitting in a throne made of stone, which Corey could only assume was Captain Lee.

The captain wore a different outfit then any of the other Captains. Although he did wear armor, it was lighter looking and he didn't wear a helmet. His hair was long and black, and done up in a ponytail. He wore black sunglasses, and had a cheap grin.

"Hello, there. I assume you are Derek Maison and Corey Kartana." He said simply, in a raspy voice, "Care for something to drink?"

"Don't talk cheap with me, Lee…" Derek growled darkly, "You sent that assassin to kill my wife, did you not!?"

Lee's grin widened. "Why…yes I did! And it looks like I achieved exactly what I had set out to do!" And he laughed. His laugh was extremely annoying to Corey,

"That's it, Lee…we're gonna kick your ass!!" Corey shouted, gripping the hilt of his sword, but Derek raised his arm in front of Corey, stopping him from proceeding, "Derek…"

Derek didn't look at his friend. "I told you, Corey…Lee is mine, and you are _not_ going to get in my way!"

The black flames, which by now seemed to replace Derek's demonic energy, erupted around him, forcing Corey to jump back to safety.

Lee grinned and stood up, flexing his own demonic power. It was strong, that's for sure. Corey was fairly certain that it was more powerful then his own. Lee reached down and strapped on a pair of what looked like golden gauntlets and pounded his fists together,

"Ready, Maison?" Lee asked, but the only answer he received was Derek rushing at him and taking a swing. Lee narrowly dodged it, but Derek did not let up. He lashed out at the captain with speeds that Corey had never seen before, and it seemed that all Lee could do was block with his gauntlets.

Derek was relentless. He got Lee to a corner and swung his leg up, kicking Lee in the side and causing the captain to yell in pain. Following right after was a strong slam from Derek's Black Dragon tail, sending the captain flying across the room.

Derek grinned savagely. "That's right, Lee! I am ready! Ready to beat you to a pulp, and then send you into oblivion!" The voice seemed to not even belong to Derek.

His facial features also began to change. They seemed more dragonish now then anything. His eyes squinted, and his nostrils flared. His grin was evil looking, and his teeth seemed to have more fangs to it then anything else.

_Derek's completely lost his mind…_ Corey thought to himself, eyes wide with fear. _I…I can't even move I'm so scared…dammit all!_

Derek launched himself at Lee, and before the demon could make a move to defend himself, he had lashed his fists into the side of the demon's face, blood and teeth spat out of his mouth. Derek just thrashed at the demons with punches against the wall, and with one mighty punch, blasted the captain through the stone wall.

Lee screamed as he fell, but Derek was right there to fall with him, but wouldn't let him touch the ground. He fell to the ground first, and threw up his foot and kicked Lee in the back, sending the demon flying back up and onto the roof of the tower, Derek following in suit.

Corey was forced to run towards the hole in the wall and scale the tower, not being able to fly like Derek apparently could now.

_More powers the dragon has given him. Is that what's doing this to him?_ Corey made it to the top of the tower to see Derek hovering over Lee, who was obviously beaten and holding up his hands.

"Please…" Lee begged, "Please spare me! Darkine…Darkine made me do it! Please have mercy!"

Derek's devilish grin grew wider. "Mercy?! Like the mercy you showed on my wife as you sent your man to kill her?!! That kind of mercy?! I have your mercy right here!"

"Derek stop!!" Corey screamed. He knew they could use Lee for information on the whereabouts of Darkine.

"Never!!" Derek roared, and clenched his hand into a fist, and punched Lee in the mouth, breaking his jaw and teeth. Derek's fist seemed to get stuck in there, but Corey saw what he was doing.

The dragon began to flare around Derek's arm,

"Derek!! Stop!!" Corey yelled at him, and then Derek looked at him, and Corey's eyes widened. His facial expression was that of sadness,

"Good-bye, Corey…" Derek said quietly, and then he unleashed it: The Dragon of the Darkness Flame…directly into Lee's mouth. He didn't even get a scream off. The dragon blasted through Lee and into the tower, causing an explosion from the sheer force of it.

"Shit!" Corey swore and turned and ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped. An explosion of black fire erupted behind him, and the shockwave hit him hard in the back and sent him plowing into the ground. Corey covered his head until the explosion ceased.

Corey coughed from the debris and looked around. "Derek!!" He yelled, moving towards the destroyed tower.

The dust settled, and Corey searched for Derek, but could not find anything. Using brute strength, he threw stone after stone out of the tower's foundation, trying to find Derek, but to no avail. Then, something caught his eye.

It was the necklace that Derek always wore. Corey leaned down and picked it up, examining it, then held it to his chest.

_Derek…not you too…_ He thought to himself.

There was no sign of Derek at all, and with the sheer force of the Black Dragon Flame… Corey could find no other conclusion.

Corey Kartana fell to his knees, having lost yet another friend to Darkine, and could not have felt more alone then he did right now.

**Corey Kartana's comrade and best friend, Derek Maison, was gone…leaving Corey to tell the others what happened, and lead the Rebel Army. But the prophecy stated that a Kartana and a Maison were to defeat Darkine. Corey was alone now. Was the world truly going to fall under Darkine's rule…forever? Next Installment: ****Lost Ally, New Enemy.**


End file.
